good morning. after a year of campaigning, mitt romney and rick santorum are separated by that slim margin in the iowa caucuses, as ron paul comes in third and fifth place finisher senator rick perry heads back to texas to reassess his campaign. a big night that could reshape the republican presidential race. we have it all covered including live interviews with mitt romney and ron paul. "today," wednesday, january 4th, 2012. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is a special edition of "today, decision 2012, the results from iowa."

captions paid for by nbc-universal television >> good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a wednesday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> and i'm ann curry. oh, what a night and oh, what a story. these results mark the closest in the history of the iowa caucus and as a measure of interest, participants turned out in record numbers. >> so tight the results weren't announced until the early morning hours. mitt romney's 30,015 to 30,007, that's just eight votes. it's been a remarkable surge for rick santorum, considering he was posing in single digits a few weeks ago. >> ron paul finished in third. 21%, newt gingrich, rick perry and michele bachmann founding out the field. let us begin with savannah

guthrie. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, ann. the first votes cast at this 2012 race, iowa voters provided a photo finish reflecting a divided republican electriorele. romney and rick santorum at one point were within four votes of each ear. an afterthought as one week ago -- >> rk rick santorum! >> reporter: former rick santorum consolidated the support of iowa's social conservatives. >> thank you so much, iowa. >> reporter: promising he would go to distance. >> if we have someone to go out to western pennsylvania and ohio and indiana and wisconsin and iowa and missouri and appeal to the voters left behind by a democratic party that wants to make them dependent instead of valuing their work, we will win this election. we are off to new hampshire.

because the message i shared with you tonight is not an iowa message or an iowa and south carolina message. it is a message that will resonate across this land. >> the next president of the united states. > . >> reporter: mitt romney captured about 25% of the iowa voters, approximately the same he got in 2008. >> we're going to change the white house and get america back on track. on to new hampshire. let's get that job done. come visit us there. we got some work ahead. >> freedom is popular. >> reporter: finish be third, ron paul demonstrated a core of support that continues to make him a factor in the race while one-time front-runner, newt gingrich, griping about the barrage of negative ads that were his undoing in iowa, set a shot across the bough to romney phasing a more aggressive

campaign. >> we are not going to go out and run nasty ads, but i do reserve the right to tell the truth. and if the truth seems negative, that may be more of a comment on his record than it is on politics. >> reporter: texas governor rick perry underperforming, despite investing vast resources here, signals he may drop out. >> i've decided to return to texas, assess the results of tonight's caucus, determine whether there is a path forward for myself in this race. >> reporter: but for michele bachmann, finishing at the bottom of the pack, the dance goes on for now. >> there will be another occupant in the white house. who knows, maybe even another michele in the white house. >> in some sense there were two surprise winners, sbrick santor, sure, but also mitt romney who spent a fraction of the time and resources he did four years ago and yet ends up at the top of the polls.

as for rick santorum, romney advisers continue to doubt whether or not he will be able to compete as this race goes forward. as one put it to me he basically ran for governor of iowa. they doubt this will resonate going forward. john mccain will endorse mitt romney in new hampshire today. >> savannah, normally when we talk about a vote separated by just eight people we talk instant recount. explain to our viewers why that's not the case out there. >> reporter: there's no provision in iowa law in this caucus setting for an automatic recount, even for a vote as close as this. as a practical matter it would be impossible. a lot of votes came on slips of paper in caucus precincts, impossible to track, impossible to do a recount even if the law provided for one. >> savannah guthrie in iowa, thank you very much. mitt romney is with us now from des moines, fresh off his narrow victory in iowa. governor, good morning, nice to see you.

>> thanks, matt, good to be with you. >> you didn't spend an awful lot of time in iowa, not until the late going. did you exceed expectations or more disappointed you didn't walk out of the state with a decisive victory. >> i'm delighted. a few weeks ago we were behind in the polls, able to do pretty darned well last night and i've been building a national campaign and making campaign appearances in states coming up down the road. i want to make sure this is not just a one state send-off but instead we're able to get the delegates we need to get the nomination so it's a long road ahead. i'm hoping to do well but it felt very, very good last night when the final numbers came in. >> you came in second in iowa, back in 2008, you've been campaigning for four more years and walk out of the state with just 66 more votes than you got in 2008 and here comes that number again, governor romney, 25%, you can't seem to break it. i'm a golfer. i equate it to a good golfer who

can't seem to break 80. is it frustrating to you? >> no, we've got a field of seven viable candidates right now so it's just mathematically almost impossible to do a lot better than that. i look back to 1980 as well. ronald reagan got 29% of the votes and ultimately he was able to become our nominee. it's going to narrow down and when we get down to a smaller number of candidates, somebody's going to get the 50.1% they need to be the nominee. >> you congratulated rick rick santorum because of his strong support. because of the support he's receiving, 25% in the state he does shine a spotlight on what political observers say is your achilles heel, the conservative voters are not completely comfortable with your record as a conservative. how do you convince them down the road you are a guy who can uphold their conservative principles? >> well i think people are going to take a look at my record. they'll also remember i ran for

president four years ago and mike huckabee and i were the two conservatives battling in the race and take a look at my book and the believes i have. people get judged by their entire life experience. i understand that and i know there will be a lot of attacks. i got a pretty big target on myself, i got broad shoulders. if people support me, that would be great, if they don't that's all right as well. >> congress ron paul, 21.4% of the support in iowa. what impact does he have on the race as you move to new hampshire and beyond? >> i think ron paul continues to have a strong message. he indicates he's got more than just a 10% group following him. a number of folks who were drawn by his convictions. look, i vehemently disagree with his foreign policy prescriptions but understand that some people have a different view and i'll look forward to carrying our message down the road.

i can't tell exactly how it's going to work out but now you've got three people battling for the top spot. >> newt gingrich "he's not telling the american people the truth. it's just like his pretense that he's a conservative. i think he ought to be honest to the american people and try to win as the real mitt romney." he plans to stay in the race almost as a front line blocker to help separate the vote and support between you and rick rick santorum. how do you respond to that? >> you know, i understand the speaker is pretty disappointed. he was well in the lead nationally and way in the lead here in iowa, and finished in fourth spot and i can understand that disappointment and i also understand he'll get out there and make his case and that's right and he's a strong person.

i wish him well and i wish calista well. >> mitt romney, governor, congratulations on your win last night. >> thanks, matt, good to be with you. >> nine minutes after the hour, here's ann. >> matt, thank you. representative ron paul, good morning and welcome. >> good morning. thank you. >> first, congratulations on finishing in the money in third place. but let me ask you this, you had the biggest organization. you had the biggest support of voters under 40 years old and "the des moines register" had a poll that said you, not rick rick santorum, would be neck and neck, just 72 hours before the caucuses so are you a little disappointed about finishing third? >> you always can do better, inspires our people to do better. if you put the other two together we were in second place. they were tied for first.

no, i think it's doing very well to be in the money, and getting an opportunity to go in to the show. >> some might say the story of the iowa caucuses conservatives have a candidate in rick santorum. given his surge i wondered what you think about his potential in this race. >> well, you know, last night when i gave my talk, i tried to once again explain the difference between my conservatism and neoconservatism, because i'm conservative across the board on economic matters and personal matters. conservatives aren't supposed to believe in big government, aren't supposed to regulate your private life. why is it conservatives think the more money you spend overseas the more conservative you are. the american people are waking up to this. they're realizing fighting the wars and spending money overseas and foreign aid and neglecting our own border and people back at home is not conservative, so

i don't think it adds to our national defense. so i see that that is a difference, that's the big difference is that if you're going to be conservative, you're supposed to follow the constitution and always limit the power and the scope of the federal government. >> let me ask you about this because a lot of republicans, the majority of republicans say defeating barack obama is a top issue for them and who they vote for and on the stump you've been talking about a "political revolution to change ideas." you've been asked whether or not you see yourself in the oval office. you've said "not really." are you really going after the presidency or are you trying to send a message about this race? >> well, i think the quote you're using was taken a little bit out of context because obviously i'm running on issues which are very important but the best way to promote your issues is to win elections. that's the most important. as far as taking on barack obama, if you look at the independent vote last night i bet you i probably did the very

best there. if you look to bringing new people n the frustrated, new england people that obama had, you have to look at my campaign. that's where the enthusiasm is, so i would say the republicans are going to be very neglectful if they say oh, you don't need independents, you don't need the young people. that's where the excitement is, and that's where the changes are coming about, and that's how you would have to beat obama, so i think there were some very encouraging statistics. besides, if you took my votes and spread them in half, one-half conservative and the other moderate because they need a different approach to personal expenditures and foreign expenditures. >> that said, your policies, your non-intervention foreign policy, your support for drug legalization has you way outside the republican main stream and i think it has a lot of people asking whether or not you are electable. so on this question, what is

your answer? >> well, the whole thing is, some current republicans and neoconservatives like to do things differently but republican tradition was always for less government and you know, positions you've taken, i include eisenhower and robert taft and actually i quote president george w. bush on his foreign policy of the year 2000 so to me it isn't out of mainstream. people won with what i'm saying and now that we're bankrupt it's very appealing. 75% of the american people are tired of the war in afghanistan, and so this is one thing. i think it's misconstrued to think that i don't want to deal with the world, because i do. i want to deal with it in a different fashion. i don't want to threaten and and occupy countries and lob missiles on countries. i want to deal with it in a different away. i fear this aggressed approach and this careless approach into trying to force other peoples to

do our will, i think our job is to take care of ourselves and defend this country. >> on that note we have to leave it. congressman ron paul, thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> you're welcome. >> it is now 7:14, here's matt. nbc's david gregory, moderator of "meet the press" is in des moines and chief white house correspondent chuck todd already on the ground in new hampshire. that prime summary next tuesday. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> good morning, matt. >> david, governor romney seems pleased but it does shine the spotlight on the achilles heel for romney, the conservatives are not comfortable with his stance on core conservative issues. how big a problem is it? >> savannah said it, the voters who count are not ready to anoint a front-runner just yet, and that's where we are. you can look at the national polls and say yeah, mitt romney the front-runner, but he's

fragile at that. rick rick santorum's pitch here in iowa, vote with your heart, not your head. if you take the combined number of santorum and paul that's what you have. the economy was the issue in iowa, yet 40% of the supporters voted for him with reservation so you have an alternative to romney that's emerged in this race, that said, romney did edge out a victory here. if he wins in new hampshire, matt, no republican's ever done so there's a march toward northwestability that's still possible. >> chuck, that leads me to you. rick santorum comes to that state with momentum. can he overcome boots on the ground? >> in a short one-week time it could because santorum has two new unlikely allies, one is newt gingrich who we saw promised to basically spend the entire week attacking mitt romney and then there's jon huntsman who basically moved to new hampshire. this is it for him, do or die.

you have huntsman hitting romney on the left, newt gingrich hitting romney on the right, so it gives an opening to santorum, and we've seen before parts of western pennsylvania and parts of new hampshire are very similar, this could actually be a fairly comfortable place for him and santorum loves to say as everybody wants to mock the fact he'd been in iowa so much, he spent the second most amount of time in new hampshire more than mitt romney, matt. >> david, let me go back to you. rick perry's gone back to texas, he says to reassess his campaign. michele bachmann while finishing last says she's still in the race. are they for all intents and purposes done? >> how is michele bachmann going to raise the money and rick perry, if he goes forward, he just simply never got off the mark. >> ron paul, the impact you see in the race in the primaries to

come? >> he's not going to get out of this race, that's basically the impact but it's hard to imagine he did better than he did last night. the libertarian wing of the party is smaller than what he got, and there's no other states really that he can go to where you can get the same-day voter registration, get democrats to show up and all those things, so i think you're going to start seeing paul slowly fade as these primaries march on. >> chuck todd and david gregory, guy, thank you as always. meanwhile, what does donald trump think about this? of course he's considered his own presidential run. he'll join us in a little bit. >> that should be interesting. for now a top of the news stories from natalie. >> good morning, everyone. a possible motive this morning following the wave of arson attacks in los angeles. nbc's mike taibbi is there with what police say might have caused the suspect to snap. good morning. >> reporter: arson suspect harry

burkhart sat in jail and his mother in a nearby courtroom for fraud and embezzlement charges against her four years ago. people say it was her likely extra that set him up. when harry was arrested he reportedly shouted "i hate america." it was his mother's impending extradition on criminal charges she faces out in germany blurted out "where's my son in he's mentally ill." her son is the lone suspect in some 52 car fires over four nights. it's possible to say he revealed his anger and made himself memorable during his mother's first court hearing last week. >> entered the courtroom and made quite a disturbance. there was a lot of cursing in english, words that i won't repeat here. he was detained momentarily by court security personnel.

>> reporter: within a day the arson rampage began. then on sunday the surveillance video was released showing the possible suspect along with the description of his van and other personal details. hours later with more fires raging, a lawyer volunteering as a reserve deputy sheriff, dubbed a citizen hero, recognized the van and the driver. >> as i pulled next to him and shined my spotlight in the car, i saw a male, wide receding line and short pony tail and that was, you know, big key. >> reporter: and the big relief to a whole city, not one more car fire since the arrest. burkhart, like his mother s in this country legally as a german citizen, too, apparently living in l.a. for about a year, and later today he'll face his own first open court hearing in his arson case. >> mike taibbi in los angeles, thank you. tragic, new details reveal what sparked that christmas morning fire that killed three

young girls and their grandparents in stanford, connecticut. smoldering ambers were removed from the fireplace because the girls were worried about santa coming out of the chimney. the embers were placed in a bag outside without being doused in water and winds carried them back to the house. authorities are also investigating if borcina had permits to renovate the house as neither he nor his company were registered in connecticut. mary thompson is at the new york stock exchange. good morning. >> good morning. today they'll be watching the auto sales, 2011 expected it to be the best industry since 2008. global catastrophes including the japanese tsunami stribting to a record$105 million in loss for statistics out there when the markets start the trading year with a gain as they did

yesterday they finished the year with a gain over 64% of the time. natalie back to you. >> let's hope that statistic holds true. mary thompson, thank you. what do babies dream about? new mom adele in finland noticed her baby girl mila was a star sleeper so she started staging the whimsical scenes and posted the pictures on her blog for her family. the pictures have gotten millions of views online. she published a picture book out this week. adele said the international had so many negative things -- love that -- she wanted to put beautiful things on the web. she's pregnant with her second so you can expect perhaps two. >> how do you find the time to do that? applause for her. >> maybe a lot in the beginning, not so much ever. >> mr. roker? >> that is terrific. we've got cold air to talk about

in the northeast, we're going to look at the temperatures in depth coming up in the next half hour, but on the satellite, not a whole lot going on, and we have record highs out west and cold in the east, and that's what's going on around the country and here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. just a few minutes away here, and we are starting with the sunrise in a couple minutes. we're down to 10 degrees in the rural areas, and by the way it's in the upper teens. later today in the low 30s with increasing clouds. cloudy tonight and sun back tomorrow >> and that's your latest weather. matt? coming up, new details on the murder mystery at queen elizabeth's sandringham estate.

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just ahead, dr. oz's advice for sticking to your weight loss good morning, it's 7:26. we have a number of school delays and closings to tell you about. winchester and frederick county schools are closed today and clarke county schools will open two hours later. and in maryland, schools opening two hours later, and you can find all the closings and delays at nbcwashington.com. sunrise on this wednesday morning. good morning. that's a live view from the skywatcher camera. sunup in a partly cloudy sky but we have some frigid temperatures. it's down to just near 10

degrees throughout much of the ruraler areas and in the urban regions we're in the teens and then warming up thursday and into the weekend. we will take a ♪ ♪

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good morning. an accident pr

7:30 now on this wednesday morning. it's the fourth day of january, 2012, the coldest mor esest more season in the northeast, 13 degrees in manhattan so all of these people get gold stars for hanging out in rockefeller plaza this morning. inside a warm and toasty and i suppose guilt-ridden studio 1a, i'm ann curry, alongside mr. matt lauer, who is not feeling guilty at all. this is a strange story, body of a young woman found in a public area of the queen sandringham estate. it's being treated as a murder

investigation. police are combing through cold cases across that country. we'll get the latest in a live report. also ahead, need help with your resolution to lose weight? you're in luck because we have none other than dr. oz here with his abcs on how to stay on track in 2012, including why it's important to eat in reverse. he's going to explain all that coming up. later on, donald trump will be here to introduce the new competitors said to square off on the new season of "celebrity apprentice" a huge, interesting group and we'll also get his take on the iowa caucuses and ask him about his own political future which seems to be an ongoing subject. >> that's a lucky opportunity. let's begin with the investigation into the shooting deaths of four people on new year's day in the san diego suburb of coronado. two of the victims were navy pilots. nbc's george lewis has details for us. george, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. law enforcement officials may

have more to say on the shooting deaths of the four inside this condo. two of the dead were 25-year-old navy pilot david reese and 24-year-old sister karen. she was a former college volleyball player who worked at a supermarket and coached high schoolers. >> she embodied exactly what i wanted my daughters to be around, which is somebody who was strong in their faith and just honest and caring and gentle. >> reporter: the killings took places in a rented condominium that david reese shared with navy pilot john reeves who was away. >> f-13 pilots are the best of the best and this is a tragedy that we would lose a young man like that. >> reporter: police did not identify the fourth victim, said one of the males was found in the doorway shot multiple times. the rest of the victims inside the condo.

investigators are not saying what may have been the motive for the shootings. at the home of david and karen reese's parents in bakersfield, california, friends left flowers and other remembrances. >> i can't believe something like that happened to that family. >> what can you say? to lose your children, that's not supposed to happen. >> reporter: david, shown here in video from seven years ago, was remembered as the eagle scout who helped landscape a local food bank. >> we took out the weeds, putting in a bunch of plants just to make it look nicer. >> reporter: a couple of exemplary young people, not the kind you'd expect to be killed in this sort of violent incident. >> david and karen were best buddies. what could i say? they were both really nice kids. >> reporter: an incident that has left their friends and their family utterly devastated. and left this community looking for answers, the questikey ques who was responsible for the four

killings that have left people shaken. >> george lewis, thanks. now let's get a check of the weather from mr. al. i'm glad you're inside because it's>> it's not just cold here all the way down into florida as we have frost and freeze warnings. 11 in pittsburgh. 18 in d.c. charlotte, at 19. and it's currently 23 in atlanta, and jacksonville, 25, and record lows possible, 43 right now in miami, and afternoon temperatures, the jet stream dips way down in the east and that's why it's so cold out west. we're looking at record highs as temperatures climb in the 50s and 60s in the northern plains. that's what's going on around the country, and here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. sunrise on this wednesday morning after this very frigid start. we will have mild air moving in tomorrow, but a cold day under way. that's a live view from the skywatcher camera. right now it's the coldest

morning since last winter, and it's down into the teens throughout much of the area, and today reaching only a little above freezing with a cloudy afternoon. cloudy tonight and not as cold and tomorrow >> and don't forget if you want to keep track of that weather 24/7, go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com. the murder mystery unfolding in britain at the sandringham estate of queen elizabeth ii. a woman's body was found in the public area. michelle kosinski is there with the latest. good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, matt, this young woman's body was found less than two miles from the queen's home here. the palace has not commented. the police revealed very few details. they had an autopsy done on the remains yesterday but still aren't saying why they believe exactly this was murder.

wrapping up her long holiday weekend, the queen went for a ride on horseback, through the grounds of her beloved sandringham estate, where the whole family, including the newest princess, catherine, spent christmas together but that same night, the queen and husband prince philip, recovering here from minor heart surgery, got some most disturbing news. from police. >> a member of the public had been walking their dog in the area and had found the body of a female in a wooded area. >> reporter: the body of a young woman, found on the grounds of their estate about a mile and a half from their main residence, and police are calling this murder. >> and what do you no he about what's happened to her? >> very little at this time. >> reporter: sandringham, though, is enormous, more than 19,000 acres of sprawling countryside north of london, including little towns, farms, woods, a 500-acre park with foot

paths, which is accessible to the public. it's been a favorite retreat of the royal family since queen victoria and where many of its members have come to peacefully spend the end of their lives. queen victoria's grandson, heir to the throne, died of illness here as did queen elizabeth ii's grandfather portrayed in "the king's speech" movie. this place where elizabeth relished the outdoors growing up. princess diana was born at a house on the estate. now the public watches a murder mystery unfold on royal land, stunning here, the police delve into cold case files and a muddy underbrush for clues, while the queen remains in residence. so what do we know up to now about this victim? she was young, her body here

between one and four months and police say the autopsy reveals no sign of accidental injury, shooting or stabbing. matt? >> all right, michelle kosinski, thank you very much. up next, dr. oz has a reality check on your weight loss resolution, what you need to do to make it stick in 2012, right after this. more cash.ent if you're not satisfied with 50% more cash, send it back! i'll be right here, waiting for it. who wouldn't want more cash? [ insects chirping ] i'll take it. i'll make it rain up in here. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? sorry i'll clean this up. shouldn't have made it rain. aflac... and major medical? major medical, boyyyy! [ beatboxing ] ♪ i help pay the doctor ♪ ain't that enough for you? ♪ there are things major medical doesn't do. aflac!

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keeping your new year's resolution to loss weight. dr. mehmet oz is here has a special diet plan he says will work for everyone. >> good morning, happy new year. >> first the resolutions some 60% of americans feel once they make a resolution, that is will fail. so what is your best advice on keeping your resolution? >> first off don't beat yourself up. the real sit 45% of people are still doing their new year's resolution into the summertime, but you got to make the right resolutions. if you make them smartly the chance of succeeding is ten times greater. >> you want to make them realistic and you say your abcs are a, write it down, b, declare is publicly. c, arrange your environment to help, and d, track your progress. in other words, you have to be all in. >> got to be all in and you're not planning to fail but you fail to plan, so everything falls apart. let me touch on the last two issues a little bit. if you don't make your environment a little different

than what it is right now you're not going to succeed. you want to change the environment, arranging it different will help to you get there. on todayshow.com we have tools to make you head in the right direction. >> just recently "u.s. news & world report" came out with their second annual best diets ranking and included easiest to follow, we have a graphic listing the top three. the key to finding a diet that's easy to follow, how key is that? >> this is an important study, the top one is weight watchers. we have a big program on "dr. oz show" called transformation nation, giving $1 million to someone who can transform their lives. we picked weight watchers because they had a system. we talked about the basic goals, publicly declared they're doing the right thing, smart about the tools they give you. you don't have to use that, any one you want but follow the basic rules. the problem with fad diets, they

violate the biology of blubber. your body can't do what it needs to do. doesn't matter if you're filing this or that program. it makes cogent sense to your body. >> you mention your relationship with weight watchers. you've got three big tips you swear by. number one, eat in reverse. explain. >> a lot of folks recognize that breakfast is essential to losing weight but they don't like breakfast, don't have time for breakfast. put your hand up, ann. >> i don't want to eat breakfast. >> eat your biggest meal for breakfast and focus more on that than dinner. of course you can have the classic american breakfast, two eggs and whole grain bread. this is a great breakfast because the protein satiates you but you can have a salad that you have for dinner, have it for breakfast. >> that will help you lose weight because you'll not snack or overeat later on? >> the most important thing is

make sure your hormones are cooperating with you. you cannot beat the biology of blubber. you got to nudge it in the right direction. these foods will take you there effortlessly and it's got to be easy. if you like dinner foods, have dinner foods for breakfast. they still work. >> second, never let yourself feel hungry. you're saying it's okay to snack so show us a cup. >> i love walnuts but i love them soaked in water. >> that's persian, by the way. >> turkish is my background as well. >> makes it less bit per. >> very good. no one ever recognized that. >> because i've been to iran. >> makes it less bitter and also in theory allows the seeds to germinate which has theoretical benefits but soaking it in water, half hour, 45 minutes allows it to soften up. it's also a great snack. you can keep it at your desk. these are gigi crackers, tough to chew but put peanut butter and a great fiber for you. >> fiber.

>> might be a little flakiness but it will fill you up. >> drink caffeine. it seems counter intuitive. won't that cause the dip in energy people say you should not have? >> too much caffeine causes fluctuati fluctuations. don't have soft drinks. i like green tea it has a quarter of the caffeine of a typical coffee or dark tea, it's younger tea and for that reason hasn't been oxidized. rich flavenoids give you energy and helps you lose weight. this is real sugar, not artificial sweeteners. 20 calories, worth the investment. make it taste for you. if you love it, you'll do it. >> dr. oz a pleasure to have you here. make it a habit, get up early, get used to it. nice to have you "the dr. oz show" airs every weekday, check your local listings for times. coming up next, salma hayek receives one you have the biggest honors in france and some people are not happy about that. we'll explain why, right after this. [ female announcer ] what makes smoothness last?

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we're back at 7:50 with a new honor for actraes salma hay yek and has some critics stirring. tamron hall is here to explain. >> good morning, matt. salma hayek has been named night of the legion. while she's not the only recipient she's drawing the most attention. at the cannes film festival in the south of france, salma hayek was a red carpet favorite, there

to promote her film "puss n boots" with antonio banderas. now she is receiving one of france's biggest honors from french president nicolas sarkozy being named a night of the legion of honor for her work as actor, director, producer and active member of charitable foundations. >> here it is, this pretty little medal. >> elaine charlino is a former recipient. >> napoleon created it to honor those who had done service for the french state but often given as a political award to friends of those in government. >> reporter: salma hayek is married to a french billionaire who is friend to knick cass sarkozy and hayek's father-in-law among the honoris as well, receiving title of grand legion of honor. >> some people think it's a joke

because the french bone bons. >> reporter: one critic posted this translation "napoleon must be turning over in his grave." >> this honor is not just for french citizens, it's awarded to anyone with international standing. >> reporter: that includes robert de niro, robert redford and clint eastwood, all past recipients, making salma hayek one of many celebrity honorees. >> great actress and married to one of the most important men who happens to be friends with the president. >> there are five levels to the legion of honor, with the five being the highest. salma hayek will receive the level one honor. we reached out to salma's

representatives for comment but did not hear back. matt and ann. >> all right, to be continued, tamron. thank you very much. just ahead, donald trump is live in our studio. >> we'll get his take on the iowa caucuses and reveal the new cast of "celeb brit apprentice" right after this. [ female announcer ] this is not a prescription. this is mary... who has a million things to pick up each month on top of her prescriptions. so she was thrilled that her walgreens pharmacist recommended a 3-month supply and would always be there to answer questions about her health.

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yeah, it's almost bikini season. bikini season? really? we live in chicago. we work 60 hours a week -- catching the red eye back as soon as this conference is over. i mean, when are we ever gonna find ourselves sitting on a beach? i need someone to help me find some fresh water. i can help you with that. you're gonna get wet. i'm gonna to get wet. you know i used to be a lifeguard. [ female announcer ] crystal light. 5 calories. 0 guilt. because you never know. so i'm glad it's with fidelity. they offer me one-on-one guidance to help me choose my investments. not just with my savings plan here at work. they help me with all of my financial goals. looking good, irene. thanks to fidelity, i can stay on top of my financial future, huh? good one. why, thank you. whether it's saving for retirement, college, or anything else, contact a fidelity investment professional today.

good morning. the time is 7:56. 19 degrees out there this morning, and let's first see what the commute is like. >> on the yellow line, trains are single tracking between the pentagon and plaza, and on the red line, also single tracking this time between fort totten and tacoma, and delays seen here as well. outer loop, still seeing delays from new hampshire avenue until georgia avenue. travel speed, joe, 39 miles per hour. you know it's cold out there. let's see how long it will last.

it is a stone cold wednesday morning. good morning. tom kierein in storm center 4. right now we're in the teens throughout much of the region. 19 at reagan national. later today reaching the low 30s with clouds around. tomorrow, sun returns and a bit warmer into the 40s after a cold start. friday, up near 50 during the afternoon. over the weekend, saturday partly cloudy and in the

8:00 now on a wednesday morning, it's the 4th day of january, 2012. it is chilly here. as a matter of fact it is so cold i am convinced our thermometer has broken. >> yeah. >> that thing says 39 up on the building. >> jack benny thermometer. >> it is 13 degrees here in new york city. somebody held a match under that thing. you saw the tree behind us just a second ago, just a reminder if you want to catch a glimpse of that do it quickly. it comes down this coming weekend. meanwhile out on the plaza i'm matt lauer along with ann curry and al roker. donald trump is in our studio

now. coming up his takes on the results of the iowa caucuses last night and also talk about his political future, if there is one, and then he's here for another reason to unveil the contestants in the new season of "the celebrity apprentice." it's an interesting group of contestants, you have victoria gotti, clay aiken, former miss universe. >> if you pulled your money out of the stock market is it time to jump back in? we'll get expert advice from jeanne chatzky. experts are optimistic about wall street in 2012 so we'll give you five reasons to think about it. what's next for the 15-year-old who managed to now become the youngest person to climb the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. wow! he is going to be here to tell us about it. >> our crack maintenance staff, we have fixed the thermometer, 13 degrees up there. which will tell you it really has no meaning at all.

we just type in whatever number we want to put in there. >> that's the thermometer. >> it actually did that to you last week. >> you thought i was crazy. >> i still think you're crazy. >> that's another story. it moved like ten degrees in two minutes. anyway, let us move on. natalie is standing by at the news desk with a check of the headlines. >> good morning, matt, ann and al and good morning, everyone. the results from the iowa caucuses couldn't have been more dramatic. mitt romney declared the winner with eight votes over a surging rick santorum. ron paul and newt gingrich finishing third and fourth vow to move on. rick perry will be going back to texas to decide his chances. >> i want to get the delegates we need to get the nominations so it's a long road ahead.

i'm hoping to do well but it felt very, very good last night when the final numbers came in. >> meantime president obama is promoting his economic policies today in the key swing state of ohio. police say a new york city man has confessed to a string of firebombing attacks on new year's day. ray lazier lengend was arrested on several accounts of arson, corner stores, islamic center and several homes. police say the so-called bonnie and clyde killers gave up tuesday without a fight. logan mcfarland and angela marie hill were arrested in the northern nevada desert where police say they crashed their stolen car on saturday. officials say the pair shot and killed an elderly couple during a robbery last week in utah, then wounded a woman during an attempted carjacking in nevada. and now for a look at "what's trending today" a roundup of what has you talking online, a story we brought you

earlier has made salma hayek the top search. she was knighted by nicolas sarkozy. it's caused quite a stir in france where some feel hayek's selection belittles the award. starbucks is hiking prices on some drinks in the northeast and sunbelt region. the 1% increase works out to about ten cents on a tall coffee. starbucks says it has to offset rising prices for ingredients. and people are fired up on the "today" show's facebook page over the intentional destruction of wedding gowns last week. a minnesota dress shop that went out of business had employees spray paint the gowns including a $6,000 vera wang gown before tossing them into the dumpster. the shop says it has donated quality gowns to charity in the past but does not donate cresses damaged or soiled.

8:04, back outside to al with a check of the weather. >> thank you so much, natalie. got some friends here from winnipeg. this is a spring day, right? >> this is wonderful, al. >> and what's your name, young man? >> andrew. >> where are you from? >> winnipeg. >> where in winnipeg? >> manitoba. >> there's a winnipeg, the bombers, very nice. there you go. let's say mellow to our friends to the north and everybody else and show you, it is brisk out. our pick city of the day, manhattan, sunshine, followed by our pick city of today, manhattan. a high of 27. we're looking at the snow showers through the great lakes. record highs out west. afternoon showers and wind move into the pacific northwest. we have plenty of sunshine along the mid-atlantic coast but it will be cold. nice and mild in texas. that's what's going on around the country, and here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. >> good morning, tom kierein in storm center 4.

we have a partly cloudy sky, and a live view from the skywatcher camera looking towards the north and we have frigid temperatures this morning. under those clouds it's in the teens in most locations, and 19 at reagan national, and later today reaching the 30s briefly, and then the sun returns tomorrow and in the >> that's your latest weather. hi to our paul sean siegel back from a car accident. we like to call him sean of the dead. good to see you. back over to ann. >> sean is fantastic. we're glad to have him back! coming up next, guess who is in the house? we've got donald trump, with "celebrity apprentice" and weighing in on the iowa caucuses after this. ♪ ♪

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talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. is today your day? talk to your doctor and go to cymbalta.com for a free trial offer. depression hurts. cymbalta can help. [ female announcer ] kleenex brand tissues are america's softest... no wonder people want to share them with the ones they love. ♪ ♪ start your own chain of sharing. ♪ send a kleenex brand share package for free today at kleenex.com. kleenex. softness worth sharing. we're back at 8:09 with donald trump, gearing up for a brand new season of "celebrity

apprentice" on nbc. in a moment we'll reveal the competitors, first reaction to the result to the iowa caucuses held last night. welcome back. >> thank you. >> you have said as recently as monday you would run as a third party candidate if the republican party doesn't choose the right candidate. so if you look at the results last night, you've got mitt romney, ron paul and rick santorum coming out with momentum. is the right candidate in that group? >> well, i don't want to get into that because i'll be making a statement about it, but i was impressed with certain things, certainly santorum, he never gave up, it was amazing, a few weeks ago he was at 1% and all of a sudden he does so well. mitt romney did great because he wasn't expected to do very well in iowa and he actually won it and he got 25%. he has to go higher. he has to start breaking the 25% level. he's got to go up. he's got to get into the 50s and 60s and i think obama is looking and saying wait a minute, what's going on over here, and then ron paul i just don't think that's going to happen. >> i'm not going let you get

away with that "i'm not going to comment because i'm making a stateme statement." based on what you saw last night are you feeling better or worse? >> i'd like to see more enthusiasm, like to see somebody breaking away from the pack. nobody is breaking away from the pack. you had three people that are almost the same. you really have to break away. ronald reagan broke away from the pack. >> could you throw your support behind mitt romney or rick santorum? >> i'm going to be making that segment over the next couple of weeks. >> are you still getting people urging you to run? >> yes. >> we've known each other a long time so i'm going to be blunt with you. the only person i hear talking about a donald trump run for the presidency right now is donald trump. who is urging you? >> there are millions of people, they filed something in texas but there are millions of people that are tired of seeing this country ripped off by china, by opec, by every nation that does business and i have a following of millions of people. that's why every one of these candidates that you're talking about, they come up to trump tower, they want my -- they don't want my money, they want my endorsement because i represent millions of people.

>> will you say at this moment it is unlikely that you will run? >> i would rather endorse somebody and have that somebody beat barack obama, because he has been a terrible president. >> and at some point you've got to disconnect these two distinctly different sides of your lives. >> that is correct. >> you've got to disconnect the reality show side and the political aspiration side so these things don't muddy the waters anymore. >> right now because of "the apprentice" which is why we're here this morning, i'm not allowed to run until the show terminates, the final episode is in may. >> let's talk about the show, what season is this? >> 12. >> season -- >> seven years, 12 seasons. a long time. >> we've got some of the contestants for this year's "celebrity apprentice" in the studio. we're joined first of all by pop star clay aiken. nice to see you. >> we have the indy legend michael andretti. >> hello, michael. >> we have the star one of the stars of "real housewives of new

jersey" teresa giudice. >> victoria gotti. friend of mine and yours. >> lisa canelli. >> former miss universe, diana men dough zugh men denoza. >> and rock star dean snyder. >> and paul howz. >> tia krp carrer, lieu ferrigno, debbie gibson, are seen yo hall, and aubry o'day, supermodel cheryl tiegs and actress and model patricia velasquez. you have a 6% chance of winning based on those numbers. who is going to win? >> we all will! >> we all want it.

>> everybody's excited. i'm super excited, but we are all winners. >> you've already taped a few episodes, right? has anyone surprised you? does one person come in with one kind of reputation and jump out right off the bat as someone that's going to shake things up? >> clay aiken. >> lisa's got this reputation as being nasty, and she's actually really nasty. >> he's right, he's right, he's right. >> it seems if you look at history, you've got to reach in and find a certain side of your personality to have a chance at this, and it is the ultimate competitive take no prisoners side. so when you look, is there someone here that immediately jumps out as having that side? >> clay. >> you're going to stick with clay. is he a favorite? >> he's my mine. >> i'm not taking --

>> i think, matt, what you just said is so precise and i think we were all surprised because, having been in corporate america most of my life, since my teens, you think that this is probably two-thirds of that. it's not. it's you have to really -- you see sides of people that you didn't see when you were getting to know each other for three days. all of a sudden it's like to take no prisoners, you can't imagine. it's really, it gets -- >> victoria, you've been on the show in the past. >> yes. >> donald, how do you say "you're fired" to victoria gotti. >> i always said that was a difficult one. >> how do you get away with that. >> i know exactly what you mean. she's very competitive. the truth is they're all competitive. this is the largest cast we've ever had, the longest show, they added three episodes. you know why, right? >> why? >> ratings. >> i thought so you could drag out the political season a little longer. you guys are all playing for charity. i think we should mention that

so people realize this goes to a good cause. paul? >> make-a-wish. >> march of dimes. >> datina commission. >> health crisis. >> racing for cancer. >> nescare foundation. >> abc foundation. >> a lot of money has been raised over the years. >> what do you see as you look at the group. what surprises you? what jumps out? >> highly competitive and we're shooting it right now and some of the folks, i won't mention exactly who because i think it would be inappropriate but some of the folks are incredible and very, very competitive, highly xettiv competitive, wouldn't you say? >> are there teams, bonds? >> men versus women, there's nothing like it. it's always men versus women and this works the best and bonds have been formed and teams are switched. we have some very competitive people and really smart people. >> i just want to get a sense of

how far you're willing to go to win this thing. by a show of hands, how many of you think donald trump would be a good president? >> absolutely. >> oh, my gosh. >> call china right now. >> i think he'd be a great husband. >> you're smiling. >> i have to smile at her. >> guys, good luck. >> thank you very much. >> donald, good to have you back. see you real soon. catch the is hesan premiere of "the celebrity apprentice" february 12th, at 9:00 p.m. on nbc. the youngest person to climb the tallest mountains on all seven continents. we'll talk to him but first these messages. when sugar plums appear, temptation's all around. donuts, cakes and pies, they've got a gift for me, i wish that i could take it back,

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jacket. >> christmas eve he climbed the 16,000 feet in antarctica, the highest point at the bottom of the earth. >> i love you. >> it is also the last climb on the dream of scaling the seven highest summits on seven continents, eight climbs in all. he covered different definitions of the australian continent. romero is 15 years old, the youngest person to accomplish the seven on seven challenge. like most big ideas, romero had his critics, many thought he was too young to deal with extreme elements and deadly consequences of high altitude expedition. guided by his dad and stepmom he made it in less time than it takes to get through elementary

school. on top of denali at 11, on top of everest and the world at just 13. >> it was the best view you can get anywhere in the world. >> now less than half way through his teens he must face a new dream to chase. this one is already in the books. jordan joins us along with his dad, paul romero and stepmom karen lundgren. good morning to you guys. >> good morning, great to be back. >> great to have you back. what a christmas present this must have been for you to be up there, finally making your dream come true. what was that moment after all, six years, you started when you were 9. what was the moment like for you? >> after working for six hard years and then to be staying on the summit of mt. vinson christmas eve in antarctica, the most beautiful place i've ever been to, i'm sure they could agree as well but to be with them on the top together and knowing we completed it was an amazing feeling.

>> to have a 15-year-old talking about wanting to be with his parents and you're smiling. they were clearly on that tape these wonderful moments that you were able to share together. i mean, paul, you're shaking your head. what is your statakeaway? >> i'm still numb at it, proudest father and stepmom to have a 15-year-old son who has aspirations and goals and stays fixed on them. a lot of kids have goals and take 90-degree or 180-degree turns and he stays fixated on them. >> there were times, i read about them, you were saying i want to quit this thing. i don't want to keep doing this thing, and you parents kept encouraging him to get back on track, when those times happened. >> it's a fine line. >> how did you know to keep pushing him when you understand clearly from your own experience -- >> it's a fine line for a parent to work with a kid and push them just hard enough to do something great, you know, and to feel good about it, but don't push

them into doing something they don't want to do. >> was it luck or skill that protected you. >> trial and error. >> kilimanjaro, didn't get to the top. >> people that know us, we live in big bear, california and we live and eat this stuff. this isn't a weekend sport and recreation, we'll take a road trip. we eat and breathe it. it's our lifestyle so we do our homework and our track record shows that. >> so this is your lifestyle and what's next? are you going to chill for a while, learn how to play some video games? are you now going to start -- whoa i saw that finger. you were like this. >> no. >> are you going to set new goals? >> yeah, there will be more goals, there will be more goals in the future. i'm looking at the south pole in the future. >> oh. >> but right now i'm just going to be living, you know, kicking it back, not kicking it back but just taking time, probably take some time skiing as well and just kind of settle it.

but my main goal is to still keep inspiring kids and i want kids to be fired on goal setting, and to find their own everest. >> find your own everest, you want to inspire young people to figure out what their goals are. >> yeah, not to climb mt. everest but of course to set goals in life, and to be driven to know that anything is possible. >> anything is possible. that's your takeaway. >> um-hum. >> that's the bottom line. you want other people to realize that anything is possible, no matter how impossible it seems. >> teamwork, this is a team here. we did it together as a family. it's not all just about me. we're the first family to climb these seven summits. >> wow. i don't know what to say to you guys. you're absolutely right, what a legacy and for you and for you and thank you so much, all three of you, for being here this morning. you made us all small. >> it was an honor. >> it was my honor. coming up, five reasons why you should dive back into the

stock market. 8:26 is your time now on this wednesday, january 4th, 2012. good morning. i am eun yang. let's go to danella sealock for a look at the roads. >> starting out in potomac, we have downed wires blocking all lanes. this is at glenn road. all lanes are blocked. in silver bring at dennis, we have the right lane blocked, and on georgia avenue, your right lane blocked there as well. and on the rails, a 20 minute delay on the blue and yellow line due

dress like a polar bear this morning. it's in the teens throughout the region and not as much wind as yesterday.

we have clouds coming over and a small chance of a flury later today, and lots of clouds around and tomorrow sun returns and a bit warmer, and up near 50 on friday afternoon, and upper 40s ♪ i'm feelin', feelin' a sunny day ♪ ♪ sunny day ♪ i'm feelin', feelin' the taste i crave ♪ ♪ subway ♪ i'm makin' it, makin' it how i like ♪ ♪ it's meant to be ♪ i'm feelin' subway ♪ i'm feelin' subway today [ male announcer ] hey, capital area! are you feelin' subway®? then heat up your day with the big hot pastrami melt!

it's fresh toasted and piled-high with pastrami, then topped with pickles, mustard, and cheese. head into a subway® restaurant today for this melty, mouthwatering sub! ♪ i'm feelin' subway ♪ let's go 8:30 now on a wednesday morning, it's the 4th day of january, 2012 and a frigid day out here in rockefeller plaza but we have a lot of smiling faces warming us this morning, as it is 13 degrees out here and we're really trying to warm each other up here on 2012. meantime, speaking about the beginning of the new year, let's talk about the stock market.

is it time to get back in? >> ever since 2008 and the collapse in the market, it's been a real roller coaster ride for investors but this morning, jeanne chatzky is here with five reasons to be optimistic as we begin the year 2012 so we'll check with her. >> all right. plus on tuesday, "today's professionals" tackled the issue of the quest for quiet, how people want to unplug in the tech-savvy and busy world. coming up we'll introduce to you actually some resorts that cater to people who really just want to throw away their blackberries and iphones and get away from it all. and we'll meet an ivy league educated classically trained chef who is taking a new approach to getting dinner on the table. it's actually a very old approach, the so-called girl hunter, and she wants to revolutionize the way you eat, one hunt at a time. >> that's the title of her book "the girl hunter" which if you google takes you in a whole different direction. >> don't google, kids.

this is a family show. meantime, speaking of, we'll be talking remember the pot pies? the original recipe, you like the pot pie. >> love the pot pie. >> head to today.com and submit your recipe for our first ever "pot pie cook-off" and do it by next wednesday. famed sh ed edd chef bobby flay around to crown the winner. >> what was he the judge on, chili or -- something, it was really good. meatballs. right, exactly okay. cool. before we go any further, mr. roker, besides the fact that it's cold out here, what do we need to know? >> well we need to know, good pot pie is l we need to know th potpie would be pretty good. let's show what you is happening. out west, we have a big storm system coming in that will bring

rain, showers and mountain snows. later on we are looking at record highs in the plain states, and snow showers making their way all the way down to west virginia. and the chill continues down to florida. 65 will do it for the high in miami today. 9 degrees in caribou, maine. that's what's going on around the country, and here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. >> still in the teens throughout the region. we have a lot of clouds around. i am tom kierein in storm center 4. that's a live view from the skywatcher camera looking towards the north, and we will have the clouds with us throughout the rest of the day, a little peek of sun in and out. we will get in the 20s later this morning. most of the day, below freezing and only briefly above freezing for an hour or two this afternoon. and then warmer on thursday, and milder >> where are you from? >> rock island, illinois. >> carla. >> church.

>> nice to meet all of you. get your weather any time of the day or night, weather on cable or weather.com. let's all say hi willie. >> hi, willie! >>. ♪ lightly flowing over the snow, snow, snow ♪ with a hey and a hi and a ho, ho, ho ♪ look at our smucker's game today, susan marcus, from waynesboro, mississippi, 102 years old, she loves visiting friends and attending church, goes there all the time, loves her church. we love gordon jorden, handy name, from forth smith, arkansas, 101 years old. secret to longevity is moderation and everything in moderation. mary taylor from washington,

d.c., she might be related, anyway, loves to attend and volunteer in all kind of church activities, thanks the good lord for all the years of her life. bill lubbers of charleston, south carolina, how about this, 100 years old. youngster. described as a very kind and entertaining and energetic young man and loves to have a little cocktail, yes, don't mind if i do. roy and berniece pratt of watertown, south dakota. they got married christmas day and there was a blizzard and their life has been melting ever since into happiness and love, 78th anniversary. oquawka, illinois, my favorite town in illinois, roy and wilma vantine, 75 years they've been married. they go to lunch almost every

day and longevity in church, believing in god and loving one another. they can be seen by their families on television, while i tell you, if you want time -- a crazy time -- i can't talk -- vacation getaway tailor made to your requests but first this is "today" on nbc.

"today's travel" is brought to you by the united mileage plus explorer card. get it, and you're in. ♪ let's go visit, baby in the park ♪ 8:30 now on a wednesday morning, we're back with "today's travel." this morning the best places to go to unplug, where can you really go to get away from it all? some resorts are catering to people on a quest for quiet.

nilou motamed nice to see you. >> happy new year. >> we go to places where we can stay connected and the other we need to disconnect. >> that's the conundrum. the more we connect the more we need to go to get unplugged. we talk about recharging the batteries of our technology, we need to recharge our own batteries. >> resorts and hotels are getting hit, put your money where your mouth is and they are monetizing quiet. >> that is absolutely true. we talked to someone an expert who predicted in the future we will have something called black hole resorts, resorts that are entirely devoted to making themselves fortresses of solitude for you to go someplace where you cannot access the internet and you can access yourself for a minute or two. >> speaking of the internet, a poll online, 81% of people said yes they need more quiet in their lives.

talk about some of your suggestions, starting in quebec, canada, at the fairmont hotel. >> the fairmont canuck chateau lemontibello. there's electricity but they're off the grid, kerosene lights, you don't have wifi. you're forced to be outside n nature, they have the beautiful golden bears, 200 different species of birds and the fairmont is one of the first hotels that got hip to the idea, back in 2008 and they'd have electronic reboot packages. when you check in, you sign something that says you will not give online and give your pdas and that stuff to the front desk >> good for kids. >> great for families. zb>> anguilla, the arowac beach offering isolation. >> they'll take the tv out of the room, specifically for

people who sign up for this, you give them your electronics when you walk in. they take you to a desert island for a day and you have a picnic there, but it is the ultimate detox, you're forced to go cold turkey. >> out west to malibu, california, the ranch at live oak, no cell phone, no tv. it's a wellness program. >> a huge wellness program, almost a boot camp for wellness. part of that no alcohol and no meat, no cell phones, no watches, no iphones. you would not take your iphone out in this place and you're forced to stay there for six days. this is a long time to commit to being a little bit more pure as it were. >> and that one did not seem like a kid-friendly destination. >> and it's certainly pricey so we have another alternative that's less pricey. >> that's down in mexico, that is the casa vialetta and offers electric nit your room but only during certain times of the day. >> so they have a little bit of electricity in the morning and at night and the rest of the time you have beautiful beach, the cabanas.

there's a shaman on site. it sounds hippie but this trend makes us feel we're going back to the '70s, the idea you do a sweat lodge, purify. i know you're smiling a little bit. >> no, no, actually i like this idea. i think this is great. >> the idea is that we are so wound up and so plugged in that taking a minute to unplug and kind of recharge is exactly what everybody needs. >> boulder, colorado, the boulder outdoor survival school. >> you're going to learn survival skills so that means if you're out there trying to make sure you have shelter for the night you're not worrying about what your friends are doing on facebook. >> for those looking to truly unplug and find peace the lemartese camp in kenya. long way to go. >> sometimes to get off the grid you have to really go off the grid. whether you go to sechelles or easter island where i know you love to be lemarti camp is a pet

project. normally you're connected to nature and the local culture. warriors actually are the people who work at the camp and so you're not only having the top of the game, the incredible game, the elephants and giraffes but you have this incredible connection to nature and sleeping in a beautiful tent at night. >> kind of ironic that warriors be running a place where you're going to get peace but that's okay. i'm going to take your word for that. >> hmm. >> hmm, something to think about. nilou motamed, thank you very much. up next, five reasons you should think about getting back into the stock market this year. but first this is "today" on nbc.

"today's money" is brought to you by fidelity investments. turn here. >> back now at 8:45, in this morning's "today's money" five reasons to consider getting back into the stock market in 2012.

after years of doom and gloom on wall street, market insiders are predicting better times ahead. "today" financial editor jeanne chatzky is here to explain what the optimism is all about. good morning. >> nice to see you. >> one of the reasons you have so many people's trust you're careful with the money. what is the biggest reason you're thinking you may want to be optimistic in 2012? >> we're starting to see consensus around cautious optimism. the folks at "usa today" took a look at more than two dozen wall street research reports, they're all pointing in that direction. cnn money did their own survey. i'm not talking about the market going on a wild ride but the s&p 500, the consensus seems to be up about 7% this year. >> let's look at the positive signs you're talking about. first, europe appears to be working to fix its problems >> they've been out and about saying 2011 not expected to be, or 2012 not expected to be a

good year. >> worse than 2011. >> but they are on board doing what they have to do to fix the problems and most of the analysts in this country seem to expect a mild recession in europe that won't really seep that far into our own economy, and even if europe is worse than expected, the u.s. looks good by comparison, which could send stocks in this country higher. >> that's interesting. i hadn't even thought about it that way. also number two, corporate earnings, actually are looking pretty strong. >> so again those analysts expect record earnings for the s&p 500 this year, and one way that stocks are priced is based on the price to earnings, so as earnings rise, prices tend to rise along with them, and right now, the s&p 500 is looking fairly inexpensive. stocks usually trade historically at 15 times that year's earnings, 15 times the earnings we expect for 2012. right now they're at 12 1/2 times so they could grow a lull bit and meet those historical

standards. >> bottom line there are deals to be had. is there a particular area you want to stay away from or particular area you want to look? >> i'm a very broad investor and most people when you look at their 401(k)s are buying indexes, which are inexpensive or even those target date retirement funds that can keep them properly allocated, so they don't have to worry about their portfolios getting out of whack. >> the picture is brighter for auto and housing sales. >> not luminsecent, not glowing but certainly brighter than it was. november we saw good numbers in autos, better than we've seen since the start of the financial downturn. we saw good numbers in housing. now i'm not expecting these sectors to go straight up. i do think there will be some continued volatility, but this may be the year that particularly for housing, things finally start to turn around. >> no boom. >> no boom but better. >> a rise. due to the fact it's an election year it's good for the stock

market, why? >> historically election years have been good years, the s&p up an average of about 8%. if you think back to james carville who said "it's the economy" and in an election year the administration that's in power really does have an incentive to make people feel better about their money and they will do whatever it takes. >> but is that still true when there is legislative gridlock and what, a $15 trillion deficit? >> we are definitely going to be talking about this deficit. there is no doubt. but that gridlock could actually prove to be beneficial, because it will push off big tax legislation until after the election. >> also, there is the january effect. what exactly is that? >> the january barometer basically says the first five trading days of the year are an indication of how the market will do in the year overall, and that's particularly true in an election year. yesterday, we had a nice ride in the stock market, if that continues, and we hope that it does, it could bode well for the market overall this year. >> this is welcome news.

15 seconds left, do you think this might be a reason to be optimistic? >> cautiously optimistic about the economy. the numbers that are coming in, if you look at manufacturing, if you look at housing, if you look at corporate profits, good overall. >> jean chatzky thank you so much. >> sure. coming up a new spin on an old approach to putting dinner on the table. we'll talk to the so-called girl i just had it with cable. it just got more frustrating and frustrating. a lot of times, the picture would break up. for the amount of money that i am paying, my cable company should take care of me. [ male announcer ] stop paying for second best. move up to verizon fios tv, internet and phone for our best price online --

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>> "today's kitchen" is brought to you by chili's $20 dinner for two. >> this morning on "tooled's kitchen" what's for dinner, an alternative to beef. we're talking about bison. georgia pellegrini, a chef turned hunter is out with a new book "girl hunter: revolutionizing the way we eat one hunt at a time." follows her journey buying meat at the supermarket to hunting it for herself. good morning. >> great to be here. >> you are a self-confessed city girl, went to private schools in new york city, ivy league education, classically trained chef. i get that part. where did the hunter come from? >> at a restaurant we had to kill the turkey. it was that watershed moment. something has to happen to get the meat to the table and i wanted to participate in the

process and play the full karmic price of the meal. >> what happened when you started to get the game yourself? >> so much gets wasted in professional and home kitchens and now that i have to work so hard to get my ingredients, nothing gets wasted. i use every part of the animal and understand how good it can taste. >> if we're starting to think differently, we make a dish and instead of beef we're using bison, not suggesting people go out and hunt bison. >> not everyone can do that unfortunately. >> where do you get the bison meat? >> you can get it in the store, it's becoming much more popular because it's leaner. >> what is the taste difference between bison and beef? >> it's more tender, a little bit sweeter and more nutritious and lean. >> you floured this a little bit. >> yes. so basically flouring it gets it caramelized and allows it to brown more nicely. >> we're making a moroccan stew here. >> great for the hearty winter

months, a little bit of sweet and a little bit of tang. i'm browning them simply, two minutes on each side. once they're all brown, you add it to your pot. >> i tasted some of the bison a second ago. you're right about it being tender. almost like pot roast, it falls right apart. >> absolutely. >> adding? >> vegetables, turnips, carrots, onions. you can use your favorite vegetables. >> talk to me about the spices. >> you have a little garlic, ginger, cinnamon, cracked pepper, and once again use whatever floats your boat. use what excites you in terms of flafr flavorings. >> how long does that cook down? >> two hours. the secret ingredient is the dried fruit, the apricots and prunes. to finish it off a little stock, you cover it and put the lid on it and that's it. >> we'll do that, pretend it's simmered two hours and when it's done it looks like this. i tasted it, it's great.

let's talk about a meatloaf, a turkey meatloaf, back to that first kill of yours of the wild turkey but by the way if you have leftover bison? >> grind it and make it. i encourage people to try different kinds of meat. do what makes you excited, what your favorite meat, it's great. here we're just going to pulse this. my grandmother's meatloaf recipe. there we go. so basically we're sauteing vegetables, we have mushrooms, onions, garlic, celery and you take the sauteed vegetables and add them -- oh, we have visitors. add them to your meat. >> yum. >> the secret ingredient is marsala wine, makes it taste phenomenal. >> looks so good. >> you add your tomato paste. >> is that an egg? >> beaten egg, will help bind it a little bit, and then a little herbs, these are favorite herbs. i'm using basil and parsley,

that's my grandma's favorite and panko bread crumbs. >> you mix it together with your hands and how long does that cook? >> can't wait to try. >> about 40 minutes. it's a lot leaner than beef would be. i like to do things other than standard beef and chicken. ve venison, elk, turkey. >> thank you so much, georgia, great to have you here. we'll be back after this. 8:56 is your time now on this wednesday, january 4th, 2012. i am eun yang. let's check in with danella sealock on traffic. >> if you are in potomac, we have a problem. downed wires blocking all lanes at glenn road. several delays on the metro.

a cracked rail at the pentagon expecting delays on the blue and yellow line. on the red line, delays at fort totten. >> we'll take a quick break and

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well, it's warming up a little bit but still very cold. it's only in the upper teens to around 20 now. 20 at reagan national. we will have a lot of clouds around for the rest of the day. highs briefly touching the 30s. the sun is back on thursday and warmer and up near 50 on friday afternoon. saturday afternoon into the mid-50s. increasing clouds on sunday into monday. a small chance of sprinkles.

we're back now more of "today" on a wednesday morning, the fourth day of january, 2012. it is fridged any new york city, 13 degrees, probably not much more than that, same as that right now, going up to about what, though? >> upper 20s. >> wow. >> bundle up. inase you're going out. here in studio 1a we're chewing bison moroccan stew. how good was that? >> mmm! >> tasty. >> so flavorful. >> still chewing it. >> a little wine? >> i don't think there was -- there was in the meatloaf exactly. >> okay. >> let's go get for meatloaf. i'm matt lauer along with ann

curry and al roker and tamron hall. covering the iowa caucuses, mitt romney just edged out rick santorum by eight votes. we'll have the results and tell you who is reassessing a campaign coming up just ahead. >> that's an amazing story. also a strange story at the sprawling estate on the property where the royal family has been spending the holidays and there's now an investigation. it's really unusual and a mi myste mystery. our "money 911" team has advice on everything from building an emergency fund to what you need to know about your credit before you buy or renovate a home. a popular new year's resolution is to lose some pounds, a lot of too emwant to do that, whether you want to drop baby weight like mariah carey who looks amazing or be lean like kate middleton and sister pippa. we have the celebrity diets that apparently worked, if you look. >> it's always good to have the

ones that work. >> because it's sure a waste of time when they don't. >> you don't want to eat too much of the bison stew there, but that's all right. let us get the morning's top stories. natalie, good morning again. >> good morning to you guys once again as well. a big night in iowa ended with a with infrom mitt romney by the tiniest of margins. the victory won an endorsement from former gop nominee john mccain. congressman ron paul in third and newt gingrich came in fourth, fifth place finisher, texas governor rick perry is headed home to decide whether or not he will continue his white house bid, and michele bachmann canceled his campaign trip to south carolina following her distant sixth place finish in iowa. she's holding a press conference from iowa later on this morning. a possible motive this morning following the wave of arson attacks in los angeles. police say suspect harry burkhart was set off by his mother's pending extradition case.

she faces fraud and embezzlement charges that could send her back to their native germany. burkhart lashed out verbally during his mother's first court hearing last week, just a day before the arson rampage began. police say a new york city man confessed to a string of fire bombing attacks on new year's day. he was arrested on a hate crime charge and several counts of arson. the arson attacks targeted a corner store, three homes and a major islamic center. no one was hurt. and some tragic new details reveal what sparked the christmas morning fire that killed three young girls and their grandparents in stanford, connecticut. smoldering ambers were removed from the fireplace because the girls were worried about santa coming out of the chimney. according to investigators, the embers were placed in a bag outside without being doused in water and winds carried them back to the house. the girl's mother, madonna badger and contractor michael

borcina escaped. authorities are also investigating if borcina had permits to renovate the house as neither he nor his company were registered in connecticut. now to the murder/mystery unfolding at the sandringham estate of queen elizabeth. a woman's body was found on the grounds earlier this week. now police are treating the case as a homicide. michelle kosinski is there with details. >> reporter: the body of the woman found less than two miles from the queen's home. the palace has not commented and police are revealing very few details. they had an autopsy done on the remains yesterday but still won't say why exactly they believe this was murder. the queen went for a ride on horseback, through the grounds of her beloved sandringham estate, where the whole family, including the newest princess, catherine, spent christmas together but that same night, the queen and husband prince philip, recovering here from minor heart surgery, got some

most disturbing news. from police. >> a member of the public had been walking their dog in the area and had found the body of a female in a wooded area. >> reporter: the body of a young woman, found on the grounds of their estate about a mile and a half from their main residence, and police are calling this murder. >> and what do you know about what's happened to her? >> very little at this time. >> reporter: sandringham, though, is enormous, more than 19,000 acres of sprawling countryside north of london, including little towns, farms, woods, a 500-acre park with foot paths, which is accessible to the public. it's been a favorite retreat of the royal family since queen victoria and where many of its members have come to peacefully spend the end of their lives. queen victoria's grandson, heir to the throne, died of illness here as did queen elizabeth ii's grandfather portrayed in "the king's speech" movie.

also her father, king george vi. this place where elizabeth relished the outdoors growing up. princess diana was born at a house on the estate. now the public watches a murder mystery unfold on royal land, stunning here, the police delve into cold case files and a muddy underbrush for clues, while the queen remains in residence. so what do we know so far about this victim? she was between 15 and 23 years old. her body had been here between one and four months and police say the autopsy didn't reveal any evidence of accidental death, shooting or stabbing. natalie? >> michelle kosinski the mystery continues in sandringham, england, thank you. grownups weren't the only tough ones making decisions on iowa caucus day. students at one des moines school held a caucus for

cookies. after weeks of campaigning for their favorites to learn about the political process, the winner was chocolate chip, followed by m&m cook es followed by sugar cookies. all my favorites. seven minutes past the hour. al, hard to beat the chocolate chip. >> i wan al. >> i want laurena dune as a write in. >> let's check out your weather. it's 3 right now in caribou. and 19 in buffalo. 21 in d.c. and it spreads south, atlanta currently at 28 degrees. we have hard frost and freeze warnings throughout florida. we have citrus and strawberry growers worried about their drops. 48 in miami. as you look at the jet stream, it tips way to the south in the east and that's why it's go sold. record breaking temperatures out west where it's way up to the north. that's what's going on around the country, and here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. >> coldest morning of the winter

season so far. we're in single digits throughout much of the region. later today, we should make it briefly into the low 30s, and clouds around tonight and near 30 through the evening and mid-20s by dawn tomorrow and sunday returns on thursday, and friday afternoon, near 50. saturday afternoon should mange it in the mid-50 ♪ money, money, money always sunny in a rich man's world ♪ time for our "money 911" where "today's" experts get you off on the right foot. jean chatzky author of "money 911" david bach, author of "debt free for life" and this is his 100th appearance and sharon epperson, personal finance correspondent for cnbc and cnbc.com. good morning, everybody. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> we're going to get started

first up, going with skype, we have carrie skyping from california. happy new year. what is your question? >> happy new year. my question is i'm looking to invest some money for the future, and i was looking to bank cds and online investments and i was wondering where is the best place to put my money for the long run? >> jean, what's your answer? >> keri, you're really young, what are you early 20s? >> 23. >> long-term you're better off putting your money into a stock market bond market portfolio than cds. you could put it in cds and it would be safe and you could find the best rates on the cds at a place called bankrate.com, if what you want is pure safety, but you're not going to earn more than 1%, maybe 1% and change on that money. if i were you, i'd open an i.r.a. or a roth u.r.a., if you have income and you can do that, and i'd invest that money in a stock and bond portfolio and let it grow for your retirement because you're talking long-term

and good for you for doing this at age 20-whatever. >> 23. way to go, keri, thanks so much. to the phone, an early riser, this is lena calling in from anchorage, alaska. wow! i think this is our first alaskan call. lena, good morning. >> caller: good morning, happy new year. >> happy new year to you. your question? >> caller: i was laid off about seven months ago. >> i'm sorry. >> i've been living off my son's alaska fund dividend money saving for college education. when i do become employed again should i make paying them back my priority or start an emergency fund account should life-changing events ever occur again? >> david, what do you think? >> again i'm sorry you lost your job. the answer is you need to do a combination of both. save money forñr emergencies, oe you get reemployed and use your 401(k) plan once you get reemployed and you need to pay it back. so i would divide the money. say you could save 10% of your money. simply divide it, 3% roughly into your 401(k) plan, 3%

roughly in an emergency savings and 3% going into your paying it back for the college savings but the most important thing i can tell you honestly is you need to prepare for your retirement and you need to prepare for emergencies and the college savings plan should be your third priority. because your child can -- go get your kid to get good grades and do extracurricular activities so your child can get college aid for school. your retirement and security is the most important thing for your family. >> jean and sharon are nodding in agreement. thank you lena for your call. >> caller: thank you very much. >> thank you. to an e-mail from rebecca in manchester, new hampshire. we would like to do home improvements but are unsure about the best way to take out of a loan. should i take it against myself out of my 401(k), get a bank loan or get store credit at a home improvement store? >> the first thing they need to think about whether it's affordable, makes sense do it and set a date when they're

going to pay the money back if they borrow the money and how. what are you going to do to make sure you stick to the timetable. the other thing you need to do is think about the 401(k) loan as something that yes you're paying yourself back but this is going to be taxable money when it's taken out and after-tax money you're paying back. when do you that, make the contributions steadily to a 401(k) so you get the compounding interest. in terms of a bank loan, a personal bank loan the interest rate is probably high for a store credit or credit card look for 0% interest card you can get with a promotional rate and the promotional rate over a period of time if you pay it back in that period of time that sounds like a great deal, that may be a very good way to go. the other thing to consider say home equity loan or a home equity line of credit if you have the equity in the home but the bottom line is really make sure thaw need this home improvement, and make sure you can afford it, without going in debt, if at all possible. >> and now, we've got one last e-mail from nancy in ft. wayne, indiana, she writes i have one

credit card that has a balance of approximately $10,000. it went into collections in 2010. my credit report states the credit card has been "charged off" and closed by the credit grantor. i want to buy my first house this year but wonder if i should contact the collection agency and start paying it off or let it go. >> don't let it go. even though it's gone to collections, do that and pull a credit score so you know where you stand. you may want to wait a little while before buying that home until that score pops back up. >> jean chatzky, david bac and sharon epperson thank you. sharon is hanging around at 9:30, answering your questions in a live web chat. just go to today.com. from breaking your tech habits to eating healthy, simple strategies for making 2012 more productive. up next, the secret of the stars, how your favorite celebrities shed their extra pounds. first, these messages.

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♪ i'm sexy and i know it if your new year's resolution is to slim down we have secrets of a-list stars that help them lose weight and stay in shape. ladies, good morning, good to have you here. >> good morning. >> let's go through the list, mariah carey, so many of us were shocked by her dramatic weight loss. she had twins in april, gained 70 pounds and immediately took the weight off it seems. >> wow. >> what did she do? >> she looks incredibly hot now if you've seen her recently. she looks incredible and she gained 70 pounds which is so much. she dropped 40 right after, she was breast feeding. >> she did have twins. >> but that's still a lot of weight. she had a c-section. she had a bad pregnancy. look at the split screen, look at how amazing she looks. she lost the first 40 breast

feeding and water weight and the following 30 using jenny craig. she was uncomfortable. she said she wasn't able to walk around her house with her husband, so many people can relate, and now she struts around and feels fantastic. >> if you look like her, why not? what are the advantages of the meal programs like jenny craig or others? >> she did lose the last 30 using jenny craig and in fact she's now a spokesperson and you probably will see her on some of the commercials. they have different caloric levels. she chose between 1,200 and 1,500 calories. there's no fuss, no calorie counting, you don't have to cook, you don't have to prepare. they do all the work for you and the meals are balanced and what i like is they include low-calorie treats like fudge brownies and cheesecake so you don't feel deprived and applause to mariah carey on behalf of all women over 40 and women that have kids because she showed us that you can snap right back and

look drop dead. >> she looks amazing. you're right. let's move on. i think the most celebrated woman in the world, certainly the most watched woman in the world in 2011 was kate middleton of course. >> right. >> she is very slim and gorgeous. no need to lose weight there anyway. but she did lose some weight it seems during the wedding. what is her secret? >> it's hard enough getting married, let alone getting married and having every camera on you and being scrutinized. she did drop weight but she's overall healthy. she doesn't have a personal trainer. she works out in a gym doing running and weight lifting. when she's in wales she's outside all the tile. she hikes and uses small weights and i'm told that her prince sometimes joins her on the weekends and it's interesting, mariah's husband, too, they don't weigh themselves. a pair of pants if it doesn't fit that's how you know you've gained weight. >> contrary to a the love the rumors she followed this extreme diet. >> duchess and duke diet.

>> she keeps things simple, eats a lot of oatmeal, a whole grain filling fiber, eats tons of fruit which blasts that radiant complexion with vitamins and minerals and antioxidant and i love that she nibbles on almonds, help to drive down your cholesterol and they're great for weight management. any nut in fact, because it has that heart healthy fat so a great snack for anybody wanting to look like kate. >> perfect example of the protein pack. pippa middleton, her hot sister. she's doing a lot of working out, jill, radio iight? >> the hot sister with the hot backside, that was the headline, pippa's rear, her butt. people wonder how she gets in shape. she completed a triathlon in june and two weeks later, a cross-race triathlon followed by a 30-mile hike. that's 6,000 calories, she

burned off 12 meals. >> and almost two pounds of weight loss. >> she does pilates as well which helps you shape not only your backside but other muscle parts. >> she's a major athlete and eats a lot of fish which of course is great for your heart and great for your brain and i always encourage people to eat at least three fish meals per week. >> kim kardashian known for her beautiful curves. she's lost a little weight recently but kept the curves. she's petite, 5'2". >> she's single, been under a lot of stress and travels a lot. so she does work with a celebrity trainer a couple of hours a week for an hour at a time and concentrates on four muscle groups and maximizes her time. her trainer says she doesn't even take water breaks. >> and joy, quickly, how does she then -- >> she has recently nixed the sugar. no more sugar in her diet and she's focusing on protein so protein at all of her meals and for breakfast she has eggs with turkey bacon and turkey bacon is

much leaner than full fat bacon so that's great. when it comes to eggs, one whole egg, two to three egg whites. eat breck nast liakfast like ki. >> thank you, jill martin and joy bauer, thank you. for more celebrity diet secrets, check out the new issue of "us weekly." if you're looking for more diet inspiration go to today.com to read daily tips and our 10,000 pound weight loss challenge, that is joy bauer's challenge to you still to come. >> sign up! >> whether you're a stay-at-home mom or business executive you have a lot to get done. we'll have the secrets to being more productive in 2012 but first these messages. ♪

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why one woman says it's polite to stare. >> and the latest moves on keeping you fit. and major medical? major medical, boyyyy! [ beatboxing ] ♪ i help pay the doctor ♪ ain't that enough for you? ♪ there are things major medical doesn't do. aflac! pays cash so we don't have to fret. [ together ] ♪ something families should get ♪ ♪ like a safety net ♪ even helps pay deductibles, so cover your back, get... ♪ a-a-a-a-a-a-a-aflac! [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. [ beatboxing ] [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. like many chefs today, i feel the best approach to food is to keep it whole for better nutrition. and that's what they do with great grains cereal. see the seam on the wheat grain? same as on the flake. because great grains steams and bakes the actual whole grain. now check out the other guy's flake. hello, no seam. because it's more processed. now, which do you suppose has better nutrition for you?

mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal. 9:26 is your time now on this wednesday, january 4th, 2012. i am eun yang. the cold weather is causing delays on the metro. let's get straight to danella sealock for more on that. >> cracked rails at the pentagon is the cause for the delays. and there's problem at tacoma metro station. and the green line, you are still seeing delays in both directions. on the roadway, traveling 66 east at nutley, volume starts here and increases as you make your way towards the beltway, but no accidents on 66 inside or

outside of the beltway. >> the cracked rails on the metro could be a problem all

it's a little warmer, but not much. temperatures around 20 degrees now and we will slowly climb through the 20s to the low 30s by later this afternoon.

lots of clouds around and cloudy tonight and near 30 through the evening and mid-20s by tomorrow, and then tomorrow afternoon highs reaching mid-40s. milder on

♪ they're going to go. they're going to fight. are you ready? they're going to fight. >> wow! steel cage match. wow, that's how' done. the world renowned dog whisper cesar milan, helped pooches and their owners and an errant vacuum cleaner. he's going to bring his quiet magic to studio 1a tomorrow on "today." you should bring your dog mae love, a biter. >> i have a four-pound chihuahua

that bites everyone. >> chihuahua nature. >> i feel like the bad parent when we go out. >> why don't you bring her in tomorrow? >> i'm busy. i'm not that concerned, she doesn't bite me. >> wow. does your dog bite? no, that's not my dog. coming up in this half hour -- >> wow. >> -- how to be more productive in 2012, whether you want to eat healthy, learn how to say no because you've got a lot on your plate, we've got tips to help you get more done. >> wow, what a caring person. all right, we teach our kids to be polite, say it's not polite to stare especially at someone who has a disability or who may look a little different from us but you're going to meet one woman who knows what it's like to be stared at and says go ahead, it's okay, and she's here to explain why, coming up and she hopes other parents take away a positive and empowering message. >> interesting. we'll get a check of the weather, really cold out. >> sure is stared. >> we will get a check of the weather. >> out west, it's nice and warm.

let's check it out for you today. we have lake-effect snow in the eastern great lakes. and later this afternoon, windy in the plains. record highs in the northern plains as well. tomorrow it's a little colder there as the cold air makes its way in. you can hear the dog days right now. and showers in the pacific northwest and the cold air hangs on in the northeast and new england. that's what's going on around the country, and here's what's going on in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. here we have our temperatures in the upper teens to just near 20 degrees, and that's up a few degrees from the lows we had around down. some locations were in the single digits, but now it's in the upper teens around 20. cloudy tonight. mid-20s tomorrow morning and sun back on thursday during the afternoon, mid-40s, and then milder on friday, saturday and sunday. a lot of clouds around, though, on the weekend, sunday night into monday, a small cha >> and that's your latest

weather. >> thank you, al. let's welcome victoria gotti, one of the 18 contestants on the upcoming new season of "celebrity apprentice" on nbc. good morning. >> good morning. >> thank you for sticking around. of all the 17 contestants, debbie gibson, arsenio hall, lou ferrigno, the incredible hulk, such a wide-ranging cast. >> it's fierce. it's a great group. when i first came in, i will admit i took more to the men's team initially. >> why is that? >> i don't know. i found out through trial and error, i didn't know this, i mean i've aboutbeen in corporat america since i was 15, i think everyone here has. the women went in with a different mind-set and later on i was told by a few of the girls, get it through your head, at this game, women fight and it goes on forever.

the men have an argument, they go outside and come back ten minutes late ear enbe fine. i waslike okay, i get that. i think everybody kind of like the women were like fierce. >> who was going at each other's throats? >> everybody. >> are you going at teresa gi giudice's throat? >> no, surprisingly. but another. >> who? let's put it this way, i will say this without giving away a lot. we did have one of the longest board rooms i think in history recently for the show. >> why? >> because of a debate let's call it. >> a debate. >> let's call it a debate. >> being politically correct. >> yeah, it was about something that someone said, was said and my attitude, my response was,

it's on tape. let's go to the camera, and you can't really -- you know, so yeah, nasty is a bigger word. >> victoria gotti thank you. >> interesting season. >> abc, for impoverished abused boys and girls and a great charity. >> good, well glad to have you a part of "the celebrity apprentice" 12th season beginning february 12th. there you go, 9:00/8:00 central here on nbc. stay tuned. coming up next be more productive in 2012, simple strategies to help you get things done right. i feel very patriotic. ♪ >> we do, too. we just want to get things done. >> marching orders. [ female announcer ] kleenex brand tissues

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of the mortgage documents you'll need up front. it helps keep you in the know every step of the way. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. ♪ happy days are yours and mine ♪ this morning on "new year new you ♪ five secrets to getting things done in 2012, elizabeth mayhew, editor of "woman's day" magazine, good morning. >> good morning. >> why is it good to start off this year? >> we want to make 2012 the best it can be. remove all of the clutter and just get down to business. >> all right, first up on the list you say start the day on the right foot by decompressing. >> a lot of people think of decompressing something you do before you go to bed. research shows it's just as important if not more important to do it in the morning. think about it this way if you start a day off stressed out,

angry, chances are you're going to have a harder time getting through because you'll be dwelling on that issue. take five to ten minutes in the morning, do something you love. the reason a lot of people exercise in the morning, read a book, listen to music, anything to get your mind away, studies show if you start the day off angry or stressed, you're going to be 10% less effective so this is a really good thing. >> you're not asking to dedicate too much time. five to ten minutes, take that time and get it together before you start off. next step you say, mindful food choices are important. >> listen, your food is your fuel. you want clean food, clean fuel. that's going to be what catapults you to get through the day so what you want to avoid is that afternoon slump after lunch. >> right. >> i pretty much would stay away from the big pasta meal. go for what most nutritionists tell you, clean vegetables, fruits, lean meats. also really important to keep your blood sugar even. you don't want to have the spikes because that will affect your productivity. things like nuts, we're always

told to eat a handful of almonds, the perfect clean choice to keep you going through the day. >> okay and next up, you say avoid the rigid to-do list. first of all what do you define as a rigid to-do list. >> if you're a listmaker, i have to get through this otherwise my day is not productive. >> isn't this organized? >> allow for flexibility. effective people understand flexibility. think of like an old-fashioned video game where you need to get from point "a" to point "b" and things are coming at you and you need to readjust where you're going. you want to get to your "b" point but you need to allow for that and make different turns. update it and reprioritize. >> if we keep this ridgity schedule it only haunts us at night and a lot of times you're think being it throughout the day and even at night when it's time to sleep. >> ruminating over is it. repry orrizing and rejiggering, readjusting. >> next up technology, so many

of us are adrikted to blackberries. how do we assess it so we can be more productive in a year? >> you want to be mindful of the task at hand so if you go to your computer to do something, stick to that. that can be very hard to do especially you know, within the past five years, think about what social network has done. >> start surfing, go to your facebook page, do whatever. >> one tip you can do if it gets out of control, do what you would do to your kids, put a website blocker on. block yourself from going to a site but you could also really change the time frame so you can limit the time frames that you set to doing the different things. >> i have a couple of friends online, supposed to be working and end up on farmville, i won't say any names but that's what happens. lastly learn to say no. no to what? >> productive people, no to, can you bake cookies for tomorrow's bake sale, can you take my kids to the movies? you have to be aware of what your schedule is and that's why

it's so important that you keep that to do list but at the same time you really, really want to not feel the guilt, and not feel the embarrassment so one thing i'd looic to do is think of your friend who is as busy as you or somebody who is busier. would this be something they should do? chances are they say no. you're thinking objectively. take your own advice and say no. >> elizabeth, thank you very much. good to see you. happy new year. >> happy new year. up next, one woman says go ahead, let her kids stare. her inspirational message, right after this. tool, you tell us what you want to pay, and we give you a range of coverages to choose from. who is she? that's flobot. she's this new robot we're trying out, mostly for, like, small stuff. wow! look at her go! she's pretty good. she's pretty good. hey, flobot, great job. oops. [ powers down ] uh-oh, flobot is broken. the "name your price" tool, only from progressive.

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use the hand towel analyzer at kleenex.com and find out what could be on your cloth hand towel. [ ribbits ] upgrade to kleenex hand towels for a clean, fresh towel every time. you bet. wow. man: do your simple return with the turbotax federal free edition, and now get our free, one-on-one, expert tax advice, live by phone or chat. get the federal free edition, at turbotax.com. you know the adage, it's not polite to stare.

one mother is turning this wisdom around. meg zucker is an brian lawyer and mother of three trying to juggle the demands of home and career, a confident woman proud to say she's different. >> you got to love lady gaga, requesting born this way" hey i had that before her. that's my mantra all my life. ♪ baby i was born this way >> reporter: she was born with ectrodactyly. having one digit and one toe on each foot. >> it sets you from the viewpoint of i'm not just like everybody else. it's a phenomenal way to live, and i cherish it. >> meg's two boys, ethan 9 and charlie 6, also have ectrodactyly. the looks from strangers remind her they're different. >> they're staring at them as if there's something wrong and i want my kids to feel like

they're beau difl because they are. >> reporter: it's not the stares but it's what happens after, she recalled a visit to the empire state building. >> all my kids want to do is look at the gorgeous view of manhattan and i couldn't help but see this woman, because she was physical lly grabbing her child as he started to point and whisked him away and all of a sudden i turn into something to be feared, for my kids. >> reporter: meghan decided to turn this upsetting incident into an opportunity to teach others by writing an article for "parents" magazine. her message, simple but surprising. >> parents, let your kids embarrass you. it's okay. >> reporter: she says don't avoid what you believe will be an awkward encounter. if your kid is staring, engage and embrace it. >> i know i have two fingers. i do. just allow curiosity to sort of govern naturally and if the kid has a question, then allow them to ask it.

why were you born like that? we have an opportunity to tell them and move on. >> reporter: while the parent may walk away cringing, meg says she and her kids are grateful. >> it's a gift, because it gives us the opportunity to become someone that's not just something to be stared at. truly a gift. >> meg zucker is here along with family psychologist dr. jennifer hartstein. good morning. nice to have you both here. >> good morning. >> a lot of parents we've been in the situation you're embarrassed, mortified with what your child is doing. you say this is a unique gift, it's an opportunity for most parents. it's a teaching moment. why? >> absolutely, and first of all it's for most parents including myself. my kids have done the same type of outburst and it's a gift because it allows us, as i say in the "parents" article it allows when someone engages us to become someone instead of a something. if you stand back and stare, if you whisk away your child when all they're doing is being

curious, then we feel like a something. when i say "we" anybody with a difference. it's not just a disability, somebody that has a big nose, anything like that. >> such a powerful message and you write so beautifully in "parents" magazine and jennifer let me bring you in. talk about the psychology of what parents are going through in that moment, why it is that we do whisk away our kids. is it more because we're more embarrassed by their behavior, more about us? >> yes, it is. we get so focused on the need to be proper and to have proper etiquette and to be kind, but we forget the reality of the situation, and we want to learn how to build tolerance, ultimately that's what we're talking about here, how are we more tolerant of one another and the differences we see and how do we make that happen? we have to model that for our kids and whisking them away might encourage fear rather than encourage curiosity. >> meghan, you're not encouraging kids to gawk or point or speak out loud but you said the important word here, it's about engaging with that

person and having that connection, so how do you do that? how do you have -- your child is afraid to do it, how do you as a parent go up to that person and teach them what to do? >> i'm not encouraging it but at the end of the day it's inevitable, so we have to anticipate it, and i think sometimes, look, even if your child is not willing to engage, because they may not be, sometimes what will happen is a parent will whisk their kids away and not look at you. even though a little smile, even a smile from a parent that acknowledges you to say you know what? that's a kid. you know that's just a curious kid, that is perfect. >> you write about a great story where your son, charlie, saw a woman at the mall who had burned her face and he did one of those classic things where he stared and started to point. >> yep. >> and you took him over to the woman and complimented her on her dress, you engaged her in conversation and they had a great exchange as a result. tell me about that. >> well, absolutely. two fingers aside, i'm all about

fashion. so i saw a woman with a great outfit, i'm going to find out where she got it and that's what it came down there, and so by charlie seeing that i would do that even with a woman that looked very different than anything he or i had ever seen, i think that made him comfortable and that's what made him ask, you know, speak to her. >> comfortable in his own uni e uniquene uniqueness. jennifer you say it's important to make sure that person is open to that kind of connection. >> right, i think you have to read the cues not only of your child. if they're got comfortable, you don't want to force they will. the other person might not be comfortable with you coming over. feel it out. the mother in the empire state building could have caught your eye, nodded and walked away and that would have felt okay with everybody, an acknowledgment of some sort. if you didn't make eye contact because you were uncomfortable and your confidence is admirable, we want to read that,

so that everybody is comfortable, some people don't want to draw attention to it. we have to pay attention to that. >> it's a great, great message for parents everywhere and kids as well. thank you so much for writing it and sharing it with us. >> thank you. >> all right, meg zucker and jennifer hartstein thank you. ask questions head to our website today.com. she'll be here to answer them hopefully. she'll be here to answer them hopefully. first this is "today" on nbc. we're gonna erase breast cancer once and for all. walking 60 miles... in three days. (woman) we're united. (woman) a family. (woman) a coming together of thousands. so that one has to suffer the agony of a loss. the agony of my loss. we're going to erase breast cancer once and for all. (woman) walking 60 miles.

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coming up, hoda and kathie lee with actor ed burns. >> but first your local news and weather. dinner's ready.

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good morning. it's 9:57, wednesday, january 4th, 2012. i am barbara harrison. we have cold out there and it's causing delays on metro. let's go to danella sealock for more on that. >> right now cracks on the rail are to blame. the problems at the pentagon metro station and we are seeing delays on the red and blue lines, and this delay here could

be about 20 to 30 minutes and could last throughout the morning. traveling 66 east, construction blocks the left lane and the left shoulder lane at nutley. now let's go over to tom with a look at our frigid weather. >> no doubt the cold weather contributing to the cracked rails and we may have water main breaks, and today only reaching the low 30s and right now in the low 20s. friday, warming up in the 50s. >> thank you, tom. coming up, we talk to a i just had it with cable. it just got more frustrating and frustrating. a lot of times, the picture would break up. for the amount of money that i am paying, my cable company should take care of me. [ male announcer ] stop paying for second best. move up to verizon fios tv, internet and phone for our best price online -- just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years. first time we saw tv on fios was amazing! i was just in a trance watching it.

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captions paid for by nbc-universal television from nbc news, this tis "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> hey, everybody. welcome, welcome. it's winesday, wednesday. january 4th. only three more days to see that tree out there. they're going to take it down. >> that's sunday when that comes down. >> i like it, too. when new year's over, it's over. >> by the way, you guys have been clogging up our e-mail boxes. >> thank you for that. >> and we love it. with all of your foe kophotos fr cutest pet contest. people are sending in -- i guess we got 5,000.

we just opened it yesterday. >> the problem is the word "pet." >> yes. we're making it cats and dogs. >> for legal purposes. >> not that that's not a pet. >> some of these entries are so cute. i don't know how we're going to choose or who does. >> oh, my god. >> that's haley. we've also got -- >> rex. >> how do you choose between a cat and a dog. you really can't. >> sandy. i'm kind of into sandy. smokey. >> oh, my gosh. okay. >> here's the thing. it's like your baby. everybody thinks they've got the world's most beautiful baby. but everybody thinks they've got the most beautiful pet. you had some people getting mad at you. >> i was in the elevator in san juan. i go, oh, my god, that's such a beautiful baby. she goes, why didn't you pick

it? i go, for what? the contest. it was a really cute baby. >> art is subjective. >> sara's going to give you the details on where and how to submit your pictures. >> we're going to do that in a little bit. did you know the side of the bed you wake up on can set your whole day? another one of those things i completely disagree with. >> think about this. where do you sleep on your bed? what side of the bed, left or right. if you sleep on one side of the bed we'll reveal in a second, you're happier, more cheerful, more positive, more capable of a heavier workload and handling more stress. this is the side of the bed you're talking about. >> there's another side you're going to make more money. how can you be all those things on one side -- >> money isn't happiness. happy. money. the happy person sleeps on the left hand side of the bed. the one who makes the more dough sleeps on the right. we both sleep on the left. >> yeah. but frank no longer works. and he sleeps on the right. so he's the happiest one. it doesn't make any sense.

>> this is the bed. >> sorry, honey! >> is this the left? >> it's when you're laying on the bed -- >> what if you're laying on your stomach? >> it's the side you get out of. if you sleep on the left but you go crawling over somebody to get out on the right -- >> i don't know. anyway, the left side of the bed is where you're happier and more joyful. >> you know where i'm happiest, hodie? in the ladies room. you're washing your hands. thinking all is well with the world. guess what? a new study. >> we're always telling you guys in bathroom we have all these issues, public restrooms. we talked about the toilet handle and the things. you've got to be careful of the fauce faucets. here's something else you've got to be careful of. the paper towels themselves. off the commercial -- those big rolls or the ones that you find on the counter just laying there like this. in a pile. >> that might be the problem. >> sometimes they're just sitting. >> maybe the top one you think would be a problem. >> they all do.

>> pick one. any one. >> they say they contain binding ingredients like starches and fillers. it builds up bacteria. >> here's what you need to do to be, you know, free of bacteria. do we have a picture of how you need to go through your day? >> we do. there you go. >> if you just don't want to get a cold, no flu bug and no bacteria from your paper towels, it's hazmat today. >> here's something else that will gross you out. some people go for extra toilet paper. they're done. they're about to leave the restroom. they want to use something so they don't have to touch the handle. they reach for more toilet paper. the toilet paper on the roll is also icky. when you flush the toilet, there aren't usually lids, it's just up. all of that stuff goes into the air and hangs there. >> sometimes for 90 minutes. >> that's what we read. >> it has an expanse of about

ten inches. >> just so you know, when you walk in there, somebody who was in there an hour and a half before you, their stuff is lingering. >> here's the deal. get a hazmat suit. they come in all kinds of designer colors. >> there's really nothing you can touch -- >> there you go. looking snappy. looking better to me all the time. >> i'm with you. >> all right. it's the 37th annual list. i don't know why we're on the list. from michigan's lake superior state university. >> words that are banished. >> every year they say they're overused. they're so overused. we've used them to death and they no longer have the meaning they were intended to have. >> here's one. amazing. >> amazing. >> everybody says it. how was your day? amazing. >> a-mazing. when you do that it's worse. >> baby bump is now out. >> not just because beyonce is supposed to give birth any day. >> wednesday, right? today! >> today's winesday. >> how is the b-12. are you still hyper?

we're going to discuss it tomorrow. people keep writing in about it. you're not just supposed to randomly take it. tomorrow. here's other words on the list. sacrifice. occupy. blowback. >> man cave. >> the new normal. ginormous. and thank you in advance. >> i think thank you in advance is condescending -- i don't think it's condescending. any time you can say thank you in today's world is a good thing. >> we told you yesterday about joy's 10,000 pound weight loss challenge. today's tip is get rid of all your liquid calories, sugary beverages and stuff. yesterday joy said if you don't drink one glass of orange juice and one glass of soda a day, she dumped in all that sugar in that bowl. >> 16 cups of sugar? >> over the course of a week -- or a month.

no. it was the month of january, wasn't it? >> i don't know. it was too much. it was huge. >> we're going to take her advice. >> we're not going to drink those things anymore. >> not those things. >> one out of every two marriages ends in divorce. that's a sad statistic. this is one i never thought would happen. 99-year-old antonio and his bride, who's 96 years old, rosa, they were married 77 years. he's going through an old chest of drawers. tell them what happened. >> he's going through a chest of drawers and he found a love letter that his wife had written during an affair she had in the '40s. >> that's not funny. >> he went berserk. >> he took umbrage. >> he went and wanted to file -- is filing for divorce. rosa wants to stay married. >> she thinks they can work it out. >> five children. a dozen grandchild. a great grandchild. >> what's he going to do? it's his pride. it's pride.

it's just pride. >> do you think he had anything over those 77 years? >> probably. i'm not sure. probably. the odds are that he would. but men don't take it as well as women do. >> no. no, no. men don't. you're right. >> what's his name? antonio? there's more than one vito in the world. by the way, vito? for the new year. vito in boca raton. >> this is one of the stories coming up here. everybody's always suing everybody for everything. okay. so a police officer arrests a woman for speeding. >> must have been going quite -- >> she got a speeding ticket for $132. >> that's a lot of money. >> they leave, blah, blah, blah. he can't stop thinking about her. >> i guess she's lovely. >> so he goes and leaves a note on her car that says, i know this is crazy. hold on. can we back up just one second? i know this is crazy. you're probably right. the truth is i haven't stopped thinking about you since. i don't expect a girl as attractive as you to even take a look at a guy like me, but i'm

taking a shot anyway. >> he says after costing her $132 for a ticket the least he could do was buy her dinner. he thought that was sweet. >> it wasn't sweet. she didn't like it. >> he violated her civil rights by going and finding out where she lived. searching motor vehicle records. leaving the note. it creeped her out, obviously. >> he must have found her house and put a note on her door. >> on her car. >> but it was romantic, i think. not only did she just not say no which is what a normal person probably would have said, thank you but no thank you. she filed a lawsuit. >> better than calling the cops. he is the cops. it seems extreme. it seems so extreme. you say there's more to this story. there's something more to this story. she must have felt in some way either she's crazy or there was something about him that was threatening to her. now she's -- i don't know. i don't know. >> filed a lawsuit. seems like a lot.

you're right. unless there was something else. >> a lawsuit is going to cost you a whole lot more than $132. >> it seems weird. all right. so we were in -- we just found out that we are in napa right now. we didn't realize it. but our friend bonnie, who runs -- we had our holiday party at their restaurant. she's in napa. apparently she took our flat stanleys to napa. and we're there. in napa. right now. >> well, bonnie, we're with you in spirit. god bless you. >> cheers. >> thank you. >> the cute ed burns. >> ed burns, hi, ed! we're getting ready -- oh, yes, yes! >> yes, indeed. >> there's a new study. sara's going to help us with this. apparently they've been wrong all these years. >> what? >> we would have no show if all these studies sturned out to be wrong. we were all led to believe that red wine was the appropriate pairing with cheese. >> uh-huh. >> that's an if-fy thing.

different cheeses are supposed to be with different wines. now the experts say the perfect partner is a white wine because it's more mellow and versatile than the red. the reds are so strong they sort of fight the cheese. >> okay. let's see. sara's going to be our taste tester. i'm going to make ed join me. i'm not really great with wines or cheeses. >> pretend jerry's ed. >> i might have just bit him. >> all right. take a sip. >> the cheese is first. >> no! >> which cheese -- >> you taste the cheese with the wine. >> oh, which wine? >> not at the same time! >> either one. >> okay. that one. >> that one or? taking it very seriously. now she's got the white wine taste in her mouth. >> i like that one. >> the red one. >> but i prefer red wine anyway. >> the study, as usual, is wrong. >> wrong again.

>> i prefer the red. >> ed looks like a red wine kind of guy. >> ed sure does. she's got a cool movie out. >> i love this movie. he made it on such a budget. >> he can make a movie on a dime, this guy. >> you would think it wouldn't be excellent. it's excellent. really, really interest. >> called "newlyweds." >> really quick, our pet contest. >> go to our facebook page. you have to like it first. select the pet icon. see the pet icon? do a cat or a dog. we're cat friendly here. the submissions end on january 10th. voting will send the top five pets to new york city. coming up next, if you are married or plan to be, actor and director ed burns has a treat for you. >> actually, you might rethink it. plus, a life change one woman made that led her to better health and a better career. a brand-new career. but first these messages.

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you know what they say, when you get hitched you don't only take on a spouse but you take on his or her entire family. and that can make things rather comply cated. >> it's something writer, director and actor edward burns explores if his latest film called "newlyweds." in his scene his character was told -- told his wife that his half-sister slept with her ex-husband. >> i love this. it's juicy. >> take a look. >> i'm thinking maybe i shouldn't have even said anything. >> you would do that to me? you would have let me be ignorant about this? >> this is what i've been telling you, you know. you guys, you didn't know each other before you got married. that's why i've been so against this. >> oh, my god, marsha, shut up. >> don't tell my sister to shut up. my sister is a good person! your sister is the devil! >> hello. >> if you've seen the movie, you'll think she's right. oh, i didn't like this sister of yours. it's a juicy little movie. shot on such a budget, shoe

string. >> i kind of -- you know, when i made my first film "brothers mcmullen" out of necessity we made that for $25,000, microbudget. a couple years ago i had another film i was trying to get made. we needed several million dollars. we couldn't get it financed. i just thought, i wanted to make a movie. i went back to that model, made a movie last year called "nice guy johnny" for $25,000. this year we said, let's do it again. >> $25,000. >> $25,000 to get it in the can. post-production another $100,000. >> how did you get the idea? this came organically, obviously, to you. tell us about that. >> i was at a friend's wedding anniversary. someone made a toast. and they said -- well, they said, and the line is now in the movie, where they said, hey, if this ended today in this day and age i think you could call this marriage a success. a bunch of married couples, we all laughed about it and said how true it is but also how tragic. from that the idea -- >> that brain of yours.

>> you're so techie. you reached out to the folks on twitter and stuff like that. >> yeah. >> what did you ask people? >> once i fell upon the idea, i said, this is sort of what i'm playing with. tell me what happened when you guys were newlyweds. what ended the honeymoon period? nine out of ten responses i got had something to do with a family member, in-laws, brother, sister. that's when i knew. >> out-laws. >> that was actually a tentative title. >> was it? >> the movie should be about when you marry someone, you don't just marry them. you also marry their family and their past. we're going to open up in chicago and then in new york. chicago on the 13th. new york on the 27th. >> most people will see it on demand on tv. >> it's available on demand. it was available the 26th of december. and this -- what's happened with on demand has changed the

livelihoods for independent film makers like myself. the key is, someone sitting at home now, traditionally if i was doing this and the movie was opening in new york and l.a. like most indy films, people in two cities could see it. >> if they don't have anything else going on. >> you're sitting there, see it right on the on demand channel, for $6 see the movie. the difference between a couple hundred people seeing the movie and 45 million. >> that's pretty cool. >> you don't make movies not to have them be seen. you have a great sensitivity to it. i don't know what the word is. a great energy to it. it's very honest. very funny. and it's very true. very true. sadly. we wish you all the best. >> thank you very much. i really appreciate it. >> i'm glad your marriage is working out. as opposed to -- nevermind. happy new year.

>> look how cute you two are. >> i know. that's not his real wife. that's the movie. up next, if you need a laugh, sara's ready to go it to you. "what the what?" after this. for a limited time. ruffled lasagnette pasta, layered with fontina and asiago cheeses and oven baked just for you. try it topped with pan-seared chicken and toscano tomatoes. or with braised beef in a chianti wine sauce. both served with our unlimited salad and breadsticks. only at olive garden. now for lunch try our new chicken & tatopo florentine soup with salad and breadsticks. just $6.95 for a limited time. that's why i got them pillsbury toaster strudel. warm flaky pastry with delicious sweet filling my kids will love. plus i get two boxtops for their school. toaster strudel. the one kids want to eat.

prego?! but i've been buying ragu for years. [ thinking ] i wonder what other questionable choices i've made?

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2012. kathleen cook. could this be called a rest stop, maybe? best place to take a leak. spell it out for us. right there. the next photo was sent in by michelle from columbus, georgia. wow. time really does fly. don't you think someone could look at that just once before we put that out there. >> you could make that a zero -- still doesn't work. >> lindsay from arlington, virginia, mitted this photo. should we maybe check our spelling, at least? we have a photo from carolyn scruggs of atlanta, georgia. which one of these would you choose? >> wow. >> it's a real law firm. >> slappey & sad. >> real law firm in georgia. seriously, if you looked at that, would you -- >> we have a camera man named slappy. >> yes, we do. >> hey! >> i think i'd go for sad at that point. >> slappy, lean in.

slappy. okay. thank you. >> everybody needs a slappy or two. >> depends on the day. laura from brooklyn, new york, sent us this photo. i could probably recommend a few people that need this. seriously. hello. >> that, i love. >> denise from lakewood, ohio, submitted this photo. come on. he's just doing his job. i think he got the last word there. >> i bet you he did. >> that's kind of rough. >> that's how you quit. >> how is that working out for you? >> don't forget, send your photos into "what the what?" we want to see them. our "who knew?" trivia game helps you sharpen the mind and cut the calories. >> and how to lose 14 pounds without even exercising. >> is that true?

>> that's what they say. first your local news. crystal light? yeah, it's almost bikini season. bikini season? really? we live in chicago. we work 60 hours a week -- catching the red eye back as soon as this conference is over. i mean, when are we ever gonna find ourselves sitting on a beach? i need someone to help me find some fresh water. i can help you with that. you're gonna get wet. i'm gonna to get wet. you know i used to be a lifeguard. [ female announcer ] crystal light. 5 calories. 0 guilt. because you never know. [ mom ] my husband -- he thinks it's a 3-sheeter. i say 1-sheeter. [ female announcer ] in this lab demo, 1 sheet of bounty leaves this surface as clean as 2 sheets of the bargain brand. super absorbent. super clean. bounty.

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time for your special series "new year, new you," inspirational stories. >> hoda thinks it's funny. today we hear from sherry who turned a bit of -- it was actually very bad news into her own very successful business and made it a total family affair. >> raw foods is when the internal temperature of the food never exceeds 105 to 108 degrees in temperature so it preserves the nutritional nature of the food. it's me and my mother. my husband helps run the business side. i do the product development.

unfortunately i got into raw foods because i got very sick. about seven years ago i was diagnosed with ms. >> when you're diagnosed with ms and you have a young family and you've been healthy your entire life, it's devastating. i mean, devastating. it shakes you to your core. >> it got really bad. i couldn't hold my child. i couldn't use my fingers. i had trouble walking. it was terrible. >> she just didn't feel right doing the conventional medicine. it wasn't right for her. so she started exploring a new alternative approach to getting better. raw foods with massage therapy, chinese medicine and herbs. lots of rest and exercise. >> i only did raw foods. and within another few months, my body started returning to me. i just feel like i have to take charge of what i do with my body to keep it healthy. and i'm making the right decision for me. i don't know if it would work for everybody. but it's the best i can do. every time i went to the store looking for granola or a nut bar or something, i couldn't find it. something that tasted really

good. i'm in the kitchen in my pjs while my husband is making breakfast, i'm making my raw stuff. i said to him, you know, i know i could make something out of this. >> i was fully employed. i thought, wow, the timing is not great, but i'll support you. but in order to continue having our life be paid for, you know, i'll keep this other job. and i did for a couple years. i was working two jobs after hours every single day of the week. i said, why don't i work for you? >> wherever you look, there's somebody in our family running the show. >> sherry has taken a really, really devastating situation and has made it into the most amazing thing. >> here's our nut bar. i feel great. i feel strong. every once in a while, i think i'll have a subtle symptom that comes up, i feel like that keeps me on track. i'm feeding myself. i'm feeding my family. it keeps on growing, and we just feel so lucky. >> that's awesome.

awesome story. >> it is terrific. we should mention the academy of nutrition and dietetics say there are both potential benefits and potential risks to an entirely raw food diet. the academy recommends before switching to this or any other diet talk to a registered dietitian. >> author of "a happy you, your ultimate prescription for happiness" elizabeth lombardo as well as jean chatsky. >> these people are the e pit me of resilience. think about a quality that we have needed over the last couple of years, i don't think there's anything else that tops the list. >> they also did it right, didn't they? the husband kept the job for a couple of years. >> i'm sure they needed the insurance. >> they were smart about it. they didn't just jump in and go. they realized -- >> put their toes in. >> exactly. that's important. because if you don't, if you jump right in, that can cause more stress, which then can

cause more health problems, psychological problems, family problems and financial problems. >> when it's a passion project like it is, you put so much more juice into it, don't you? >> right. you work a lot harder to get where you need to go. but i do think there is something to be said about doing it smartly and testing the waters and making sure it's a viable business instead of just a viable hobby. >> and people's dreams can take -- get them carried away, can't they? oh, everybody's going to love this! it's going to be the greatest thing since peanut butter! then all of the sudden you discover that a couple people like it, but not enough. and you've given up everything for it. >> that's true. i also think when you look at resilience, which we've learned through the academic research over the past couple years, is one of those things you're born with but you also can really get more of. >> it's a skill we all can learn. >> one of the ways to get more of it is to do something. when you're feeling stuck. or when you're feeling put down. it may be the wrong thing and you can switch up later, but you get going and that helps you. >> i think people don't know the

abcs of what to do. i think people are frustrated because they might have an idea but they don't know how to go about that. >> right. if you've got a business idea and you want some help, go to score, which is the service core of retired executives. these are people that come out of the business world. it's trefree. they can help you put together a business plan, run the numbers and see if it's doable. >> kathie lee and i get things that viewers send in. it's wonderful. they want it to the next croc or whatever it is. everybody's dreaming, maybe i can do that. it's a tough reality when you realize not everybody's going to do that. >> it is. that's okay. the goal should be to share it with other people and see where it goes. but continue to enjoy it. if you put too much into it and then it fails then you don't enjoy it anymore. >> then you're going to be so depressed it's going to be hard to get up again and try something new. >> one of the things you hear again and again when talking to entrepreneurs, this is their 12th idea. they had that gene. they stuck with it until it managed to get there.

>> okay. >> sticktoitiveness. >> our new year and new series is back tomorrow with another inspirational story. >> and jean chatsky will be with us again. how to cut calories for a healthier new year. right after this. you can lose 14 pounds. they say. >> how fast? >> without exercising. >> how fast? out of landfills each year?an the equivalent of 140 million trash bags, gone. by using new glad trash bags, designed with reinforcing bands to be stronger with less plastic waste, we can. ♪ it's a small change that can make a big difference. ♪ it's a small change thasmoky eyes look amazing.nce. but creating them? that's a whole different story. almay intense i-color smoky-i kit. first, sweep the smoky-i color across your lid.

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smart today by cutting calories without depriving yourself. sounds too good to be true. >> it sure does. making just a few small changes in your diet can lead to big results. here with advice "shape" magazine contributes editor and sports nutritionist, jay kardiello. >> your first baby. congratulations. >> you can lose 14 pounds, is that what you said, without exercising? >> that is correct.

just drinking water alone, when you make the switch from sugary beverage, cola or fruit juice to water, you're actually cutting down about 50,000 calories. >> we're talking about in a year. >> in a year. 14.2 pounds. >> in a year. >> it's always important to remember, too, drink your water cold. you're going to raise your metabolism by up to 26% for 90 minutes. some people think it's warm water. it's actually cold. >> i like it warm. cold makes my gums hurt. >> what about diet drinks? people -- you think there are no calori calories. people always say they lose weight if they stop drinking diet drinks. >> there's a lot of sodium. with diet cola especially, it kicks the body into wanting sugar about 90 minutes later. >> that's like chewing sugar free gum. >> sure. >> whenever i chew sugar free gum, i want something sweet. >> here's an idea. don't do it! okay? >> ridiculous. when you drink water, everyone

always likes it with lemon. there's a reason. a science behind it. >> there is a science behind it. what lemons do is they slow the absorption in the body of sugar into the bloodstream. cuts down type 2 diabetes. there's so much of a risk of diabetes right now because we're bringing so much sugar into our bodies. >> the nature's cleanser. >> it is the nature's cleanser. >> you eat lemons? i don't believe you. >> jerry's going to be mad. >> we can go into red wine. >> a lot of our readers are mothers. our kids are taking in fruit juice. they want to stay away from not only the sugar, but the calories. what we do, we pour half the fruit juice and half of water. >> water it down. >> water it down. >> it's too sweet anyway. >> look what she just did. she ate a lemon. you don't even like it. she just ate a whole lemon. >> did she?

she's cleansing. >> you've never done it? >> i don't want to do it. don't make me do it. i want the wine. >> i'll eat it for you. >> that's a best part. >> mmm. >> see what you're missing in life. >> i'm lowering the sugar absorption in my body right now. >> see, hoda woman? >> how is this wine going to taste to you right now? >> really good. >> get in there. >> what i want to point out, this is a chilean red. better for you than a french red because it's going to have a 38% higher antioxidant content. >> do you know how mad the french are going to be at you? >> they're going to be mad. cut down on free radicals. with the chilean red, enjoy it. it's winesday, wednesday. i got that just for you. soon we're going to be getting into spring. soon we're going to be getting into summer. a lot of people are going to be indulging in beer. bringing in water before you

have any alcohol beverage -- >> why would you want to do that? >> not with the wine. with the beer. >> we'll just -- >> we are new yorkers. we do love our bag els. there is a high sugar content. reach for whole grain. >> so little. >> we can actually scoop out any of the bread on the inside. if you do want butter, some people like butter, i suggest taking a little bit of butter, microwave it and then pouring it over the top. >> when it's cold you just eat the chunk of butter. >> 31 milligrams of cholesterol found in a tablespoon. >> mustard is a better condiment than mayo. >> switching from mayo to mustard can cut down 300 calories. sometimes you're in a restaurant. i can't decide. i want to eat healthy. go for the mustard. >> got it. yep. >> a baked potato actually is good for you. it is a complex carb. it will sustain energy in the body. if we're going to choose fries, choose steak fries.

>> why? >> they're not going to absorb the oil as opposed to a shoe string fry or french fry. >> or the curly ones. >> i also want to point out, with olive oil it is very important to not put it by the stove. it decreases your antioxidant content. also choose a smaller bottle. >> most people leave it by the stove. >> the heat does actually expedite the antioxidant content to decrease. it will decrease the severity of not only asthma but arthritis in the body. >> my kids all eat the sweet potato fries now anyway. they've given up the regular powe p potato fries anyway. you don't think that's a great idea? >> i do. anything you say is a great idea. >> you're coming back next week. >> you can enjoy the chips. here's one thing that we do all the time. don't eat out of the container. one of the main things is when we eat out of the container, whether it be ice cream or potato chips, we're going to eat straight to the end. >> we dig down. >> we always have a big thingpr.

eat like a child. regress back to the days where we had smaller dishes or smaller plates. >> sometimes big things are good, too. we hope you have a big bouncing baby. god bless you. happy new year. coming next, gwen lawrence is here. right after this. jenna shared her recipe with sharon,

who emailed it to emily, who sent it to cindy, who wondered why her soup wasn't quite the same. the recipe's not the recipe... ohhh. [ female announcer ] ...without swanson. the broth cooks trust most when making soup. mmmm! [ female announcer ] the secret is swanson. thrilled. wait. we can have shakes? and boston cream pie. did you say pie? pie. she said pie. pie. [ male announcer ] get back on track with low prices on everything you need. backed by our ad match guarantee. walmart. mom, we're dying. no you're not, you're just hungry. make some totino's pizza rolls. we don't have any!

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it is time to get fit with kathie lee and hoda. in this case sara is joining. if you are getting into shape or it's been one of your new year's resolutions, you know it's an

easy one to make but a real tough one to keep. >> we brought in celebrity coach gwen lawrence to help you ease into the year and your new body. hi, doll. >> hi! >> are a lot of people signing up now for yoga? >> oh, yeah. big resolution time pitch a new dvd out. "fit body yoga." >> you look amazing as usual. >> thank you. >> getting new moves in your old age. >> i am. >> old age! >> no lie. >> tell us about some of these hot new moves. >> i picked three moves from the dvd that are going to help you stay fit this winter and also enhance your other workouts. if you're kick boxing, running, i'll keep you open and challenge you. >> running. >> the good thing about this, they're classic yoga poses, but i stepped them up a notch to make them a little bit harder. >> this one's called the extended arm triangle. >> she's going to go into triangle pose. let's straighten this leg. instead of holding on, you're going to rest that arm. you're going to reach, reach, reach and hold it out. really kicks in the abdominals a lot. she's making it look pretty easy, or is she? >> no! >> making faces?

then bring it up. then bring it back over. yep. you can go up and back as many times as you want. >> i was doing it. >> i need eyes behind my head back here. >> is that what we're doing? >> come down into toe balance. you guys can watch. >> no, no, no. >> your thighs are going to come together. all right? arms are going to come up to the sky. >> oh, maybe not. >> like you're sliding up a wall. go all the way up to standing. >> who helps you get up? >> on the tiptoe. >> there you go. all the way back down. high on the toes. all the way back down. >> oh, high on the toes. >> all the way. keep going. good. squeeze your inner thighs together. good. >> let's do the face down shoulder stretch. >> all right. that's the one she was in love with. actually, you guys can do this. >> really? are you sure? >> pick an arm. any arm. right arm out to the side. all right. left arm out to the side. you're going to bend this.

let's keep your left arm out. this one underneath. bend your right knee. >> i don't think so. >> you guys just stay there. she's going to flip it over. >> you can do this. you can't do it. you definitely look like a crime scene right here. >> doa. doa! i love this. >> i love the faces, too. but this just goes to show you, everybody can do this. i'll work on hoda over here. >> oh, my god. oh, my god. i'm so happy. i'm so happy. >> feet out more. there you go. if you're doing spinning, if you're kick boxing, if you're running, this is a great one. sara, you're really good at it. >> this is "today" on nbc. >> th

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all right. it's too to -- >> listen to miss sara haines. >> we have fans posting on our wall. one person said, what? white wine with cheese? call the wine police. i've never had white wine with cheese. although i don't eat cheese anymore. thank you very much. we also have cute dogs. dogs are coming in. >> are people flooding the web page with dogs? >> yes. >> send your dog. you might get your mug up. >> we also have a lexi. that looks like your -- no, no it doesn't. >> a little like lola. >> remember, guys, send your dog pictures in. we need them. your cat pictures, too. >> if they don't get picked, don't take it out on us when you meet us on the street, okay? >> we didn't do it. >> tomorrow -- >> we'll tell you how to change your reputation. >> you know you need to. after last night, you need to. plus, say good-bye to

chapped lips and crack eed fingertips forever. >> plus, the dog whisperer, ceaser milan, he's going to speak with us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com